Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leeds (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will increase multi-year funding to support the most food-insecure people in Sudan and Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As announced by the Deputy Foreign Secretary during his visit at the end of March to the Chad/Sudan border to meet refugees from Sudan, this financial year the UK's official development assistance (ODA) will almost double to £89 million to Sudan with most of this going towards humanitarian aid including assistance to address food insecurity. Specifically, our ODA in Sudan will include support to UNICEF to provide emergency and life-saving food assistance to support people particularly in hard-to reach areas in Sudan, including nutrition, water and hygiene services for 500,000 children under 5. In addition, the UK will be working with the World Food Programme to provide assorted food commodities. The UK's ODA will also increase to £111 million to South Sudan, which will include provision for continued humanitarian support for new Sudanese refugees as well as vulnerable returnees and host communities in South Sudan. We will also continue to provide ODA assistance in Chad in 2024/2025, which will include support for the refugee crisis in eastern Chad such as food, shelter and other assistance by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and through the World Food Programme.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers with children have been made homeless on achieving refugee status in the past 12 months.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered. Following the service of an asylum decision, an individual continues to be an asylum seeker for the purpose of asylum support until the end of the relevant prescribed period set out in legislation. This period is 28 calendar days from when an individual is notified of a decision to accept their asylum claim and grant them leave and we have no plans to extend this period. Whilst our legislative power is clear, we do in practice already extend support beyond this. Our current process means that individuals can remain on asylum support for at least 28 days after they have been issued a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), which means that individuals have longer than 28 days to make arrangements to move on before their asylum support ends. It is important that individuals initiate plans to move on from asylum support as soon as they are served their asylum decision in order to maximise the time they have to make move on arrangements.
We offer move on support to all individuals through Migrant Help or their partner organisation. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them. Individuals can contact Migrant Help in three ways:
We continue to identify and make efficiencies in supporting newly recognised refugees during the move on period and to mitigate the risk of homelessness. We are fully committed to working with partners in doing this. We have already worked closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. We are also utilising Home Office Liaison Officers to replicate part of the Afghan resettlement move on process. We have been working in three local authority areas since December 2023; Glasgow, Brent and Hillingdon. This has now been expanded to Manchester and Liverpool.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the estimate by the General Coordination of Camps for the Displaced and Refugees in Sudan that over 560 children have died from malnutrition during the last 11 months of the war in that country, and of UNICEF’s prediction that 700,000 Sudanese children will suffer severe malnutrition in 2024, and what steps they are taking in response.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain a committed donor to Sudan and provided £42.6 million in humanitarian aid to support people there in 2023-2024, including £12.2 million to UNICEF for lifesaving nutrition activities. In this new financial year, UK bilateral ODA to Sudan will nearly double to £89 million. Funding for South Sudan was increased to £7.75 million, which includes £3.5 million for food security in the Maban refugees camps. The lack of humanitarian access continues to make it extremely difficult for humanitarian organisations to provide the necessary levels of assistance. On 8 March, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2724, led by the UK, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan during the month of Ramadan and underlining the urgency of humanitarian access. We condemn the fact that the warring parties have not heeded this Resolution.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the humanitarian situation in the Gambella region of Ethiopia following the migration of people from South Sudan to the area.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Ethiopia hosts nearly 1 million refugees of whom 43%, roughly 420,000 people, originate from South Sudan. The vast majority of South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia reside in seven camps in Gambella region. Refugees experience pressing humanitarian hardships in Gambella due to a combination of factors including recurrent flooding exacerbated by a shortage of donor funding. Between 2022 and 2023 aid agencies recorded a near doubling of cases of severe acute malnutrition among children under five years at Kule refugee camp. The UK is lobbying humanitarian agencies to ensure aid is prioritised effectively and reaches the most vulnerable.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any Afghan refugees were (a) placed in and (b) returned to bridging hotels in the period since September 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes. We continue to honour our commitments to bring eligible Afghans to the UK.
As of 31 August 2023, we successfully ended the use of bridging hotels for legally resettled Afghans, with the overwhelming majority of those being resettled now having moved into settled accommodation. We have now provided these Afghans with the homes they need to begin the next chapter of their life in the UK, fully integrate, find employment and provide their children with stability.
Whilst we cannot confirm the longest length of stay in bridging accommodation, our statistics show that the earliest record of an Afghan in bridging accommodation was in the second quarter of 2021.
The Home Office publish data on Afghan resettlement in the Immigration System Statistics release. In table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets, you can view the number of Afghans resettled, by when they arrived in the UK (quarterly breakdowns) and what type of accommodation they were recorded in as of the date of the data extraction (currently the data is as of 30 September 2023). The next Immigration Statistics are due for release around 22 February 2024.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan refugees housed in interim hotel accommodation were aged (a) zero to three, (b) three to five, (c) five to ten, (d) 10 to 15 and (e) 15 to 18 years old as of 26 December 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help resettle Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served in the UK. Since June 2021, we have brought 24,500 people to safety to the UK.
1,674 people, around half of whom are children, were living in interim accommodation (i.e., hotels/serviced accommodation) at the end of September 2023.
For information on individuals within interim accommodation, including nationality, age, and sex breakdowns, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
For data on those in accommodation by location, see the regional and local authority immigration groups data tables.
We are unable to provide a running commentary on interim accommodation and settled accommodation occupation. The next release of Afghan Operational Data is due for release around 22 February 2024.
Local authorities receive integration tariff funding of £20,520 per person, over three years, for each Afghan family they resettle and provide full integration support for this duration. They have the flexibility to use this funding to contribute towards renting accommodation, including deposit, letting fees and necessary furnishings.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan refugees were housed in interim hotel accommodation as of (a) 5 December 2023, (b) 12 December 2023, (c) 19 December 2023, (d) 26 December 2023 and (e) 31 December 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help resettle Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served in the UK. Since June 2021, we have brought 24,500 people to safety to the UK.
1,674 people, around half of whom are children, were living in interim accommodation (i.e., hotels/serviced accommodation) at the end of September 2023.
For information on individuals within interim accommodation, including nationality, age, and sex breakdowns, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
For data on those in accommodation by location, see the regional and local authority immigration groups data tables.
We are unable to provide a running commentary on interim accommodation and settled accommodation occupation. The next release of Afghan Operational Data is due for release around 22 February 2024.
Local authorities receive integration tariff funding of £20,520 per person, over three years, for each Afghan family they resettle and provide full integration support for this duration. They have the flexibility to use this funding to contribute towards renting accommodation, including deposit, letting fees and necessary furnishings.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan refugees who left hotel accommodation between 1 and 31 December 2023 have found permanent accommodation in the same local authority area.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help resettle Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served in the UK. Since June 2021, we have brought 24,500 people to safety to the UK.
1,674 people, around half of whom are children, were living in interim accommodation (i.e., hotels/serviced accommodation) at the end of September 2023.
For information on individuals within interim accommodation, including nationality, age, and sex breakdowns, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
For data on those in accommodation by location, see the regional and local authority immigration groups data tables.
We are unable to provide a running commentary on interim accommodation and settled accommodation occupation. The next release of Afghan Operational Data is due for release around 22 February 2024.
Local authorities receive integration tariff funding of £20,520 per person, over three years, for each Afghan family they resettle and provide full integration support for this duration. They have the flexibility to use this funding to contribute towards renting accommodation, including deposit, letting fees and necessary furnishings.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support has been provided to Bradford Council by his Department to support Afghan refugees leaving interim hotel accommodation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help resettle Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served in the UK. Since June 2021, we have brought 24,500 people to safety to the UK.
1,674 people, around half of whom are children, were living in interim accommodation (i.e., hotels/serviced accommodation) at the end of September 2023.
For information on individuals within interim accommodation, including nationality, age, and sex breakdowns, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
For data on those in accommodation by location, see the regional and local authority immigration groups data tables.
We are unable to provide a running commentary on interim accommodation and settled accommodation occupation. The next release of Afghan Operational Data is due for release around 22 February 2024.
Local authorities receive integration tariff funding of £20,520 per person, over three years, for each Afghan family they resettle and provide full integration support for this duration. They have the flexibility to use this funding to contribute towards renting accommodation, including deposit, letting fees and necessary furnishings.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to mobilise funding to support the education of refugees in low and middle income host countries.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As set out in the recent Development White Paper, the UK continues to support education for refugee children through our work in emergencies and protracted crises, with our support through Education Cannot Wait and the Global Partnership for Education. This includes support for the implementation of the UNHCR-UNICEF Blueprint for Joint Action for Refugee Children. Working with a number of partners, we will also be announcing further support for inclusive refugee education at the Global Refugee Forum.