Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 22 July (HL Deb, col 2294) and the “pledge to resettle a further 5,000 vulnerable people seeking refuge, from not just Syria but anywhere in the world”, when they estimate they will begin to resettle the 5,000 refugees pledged to occur within one year under the new global resettlement scheme.

The UK will shortly restart UK resettlement arrivals to fulfil our commitment of resettling 20,000 refugees affected by the conflict in Syria under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) and we are working closely with partners to deliver this commitment.

Due to the lead times for refugee arrivals, it is likely that we will see most refugees start to arrive early in the new year

Decisions regarding resettlement beyond the completion of this scheme are yet to be made and will need to take account of the impact of COVID-19 and the ongoing pressures on the asylum system. We have committed to a review of safe and legal routes to the UK. We are aware that the pause in resettlement has had an impact on our resettlement partners and will continue to work with them as future plans are developed.