Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people, including principals and relatives, have been supported through Community Sponsorship under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme as of 26 May 2022.

The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6^th January, providing up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.

We helped over 15,000 people to safety in the biggest and fastest emergency evacuation in recent history, and we have continued to bring people to the UK, with over 3,000 people helped to enter since the evacuation.

In light of the success of our evacuation efforts, we expect to exceed our initial aim of resettling 5,000 through the Scheme in the first year.

Community Sponsorship provides the opportunity for friends and neighbours, charities and faith groups to play a direct role in supporting families resettled to the UK as they restart their lives here. Sponsors are able to welcome and support families through the ACRS.

The number resettled through the ACRS and Community Sponsorship will be published soon in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.