Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees there are by nationality.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information you have requested is published in the Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK. Data on asylum seekers who have been granted refugee permission at initial decision is published in table Asy_D02 of the asylum detailed datasets. Data on resettled refugees is published in table Res_D02 of the resettlement detailed datasets. The latest data is available up to the end of June 2025 and includes breakdowns by nationality. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what security checks her Department undertakes on refugees coming to the UK from Gaza.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is supporting a group of Chevening Scholars and fully funded scholarship students to depart from Gaza to take up university places in the UK in Autumn for the 2025/26 academic year. The Government has also committed to evacuate a limited number of sick and injured children out of Gaza to receive specialist treatment in NHS hospitals across the UK. These individuals are not refugees and are not entering the UK using refugee resettlement routes.
All visa applicants are required to provide their biographic and biometric data to enable a range of security checks to be completed, including criminality checks.
Robust security checks are being undertaken on all individuals who enter the UK through this process. Biometrics are collected as part of the visa application process and prior to travel to the UK.
The Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by terrorists, by criminals and by individuals excluded from the UK; previously deported from the UK; or using lost, stolen or revoked documents and visas. This includes the use of domestic and international watchlists. The Home Office works with both law enforcement and wider government partners to ensure appropriate action is taken before travel or at the border when individuals of concern are identified. It would not be appropriate to provide further information about the nature and scope of security checks.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many dependents of people granted humanitarian leave to remain have come to the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information you have requested is published in the Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK Data on grants of humanitarian protection following an asylum claim is published in table Asy_D02 of the asylum detailed datasets. Data on grants of entry clearance visa applications, by visa type, is published in table Vis_D02 of the entry clearance visas detailed datasets. Data on refugees resettled is published in table Res_D02 of the resettlement detailed datasets. The latest data is available up to the end of June 2025. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the 'Notes' page of the workbook.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her international counterparts on the resettlement of Rohingya refugees to third countries.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The main solution to the Rohingya crisis is safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation to Myanmar. This is the focus of the UK's diplomatic efforts. While conditions for return do not currently exist, we continue to work to ensure that the Rohingya can live in safety and dignity while they remain in Bangladesh.
The UK is working through local partners to address the humanitarian situation in the Rohingya camps and closely monitoring levels of need and security. We regularly engage the Interim Government of Bangladesh on security in and around the camps and actions to improve the protection environment.
In September, the Foreign Secretary announced £27 million of new funding, bringing the UK's total support to £447 million. This includes support to help refugees build skills for the future and reduce reliance on aid.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help ensure that Jobcentre Plus services meet the needs of disabled refugees.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
DWP works with partners and services to meet the needs of disabled refugees. This includes working with Migrant Help, the Refugee Employment Network; Home Office refugee liaison officers; referring to alternative provisions including English language provision; and sign posting to the Home Office Refugee Employability Programme.
The Department is committed to promoting a just, equal, and inclusive society, ensuring independence and control for all customers, including disabled individuals and those with complex needs.
DWP provides a range of support to help refugees and those on Afghan and Ukraine Schemes to settle in the community and find work, including access to mainstream Jobcentre services which provide individually tailored benefit and work support.
Jobcentres also work locally with partners and employers to support this group into work. Connect to Work, part of the Government’s Get Britain Working strategy, will provide support to disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment, including refugees and those on resettlement schemes, to get into work.
The Government is dedicated to championing the rights of disabled people and involving them in designing our reforms. All new Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisors receive training to support all claimants, with specialist support available from Disability Employment Advisers to tailor assistance for disabled customers. These advisers also offer direct support to those with long-term health conditions needing bespoke assistance
In addition, the Department will launch a new coaching academy to enhance the skills of Work Coaches and provide further support to customers, including those with disabilities. This initiative will be evaluated and reviewed regularly to ensure training remains relevant and effective.
Additional Work Coach Support provides disabled people and people with health conditions, with increased one-to-one personalised support from their work coach to help them move towards, and into work. Support is now available in all Jobcentres across England, Scotland and Wales. This personalised support from Work Coaches aims to enable disabled people to access employment, wider support including our employment programmes earlier.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support the Community Sponsorship scheme for refugees.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May 2025, announced a review of our existing refugee sponsorship and resettlement schemes to develop a more cost-effective and sustainable framework which will deliver better outcomes for refugees and the communities in which they live.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce a (a) fast-track and (b) expedited process for applications to the Displaced Talent Mobility Scheme for people seeking refuge from (i) war zones and (ii) crisis situations.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May, announced a review of the UK’s existing refugee resettlement and sponsorship schemes. This will ensure that there is a framework which will allow businesses, universities and communities to sponsor refugees to live, work and study in the UK. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers and refugees have been dispersed by the Home Office to Northern Ireland in each of the past five years, and how many from Syria, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine in the relevant official schemes.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The number of supported asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years were as follows:
Immigration group | As at 31 March 2021 | As at 31 March 2022 | As at 31 March 2023 | As at 31 March 2024 | As at 31 March 2025 |
Supported Asylum seekers | 912 | 1,404 | 3,030 | 2,765 | 2,637 |
Afghan Resettlement Programme | Scheme not open | Data not available | Data not available | 203 | 305 |
Homes for Ukraine (arrivals) | Scheme not open | Data not available | Data not available | 1,502 | 1,949 |
Please note that Asylum seekers are accommodated in Northern Ireland only if they apply for asylum there. These figures are a snapshot as at 31 March for the last 5 years.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the lessons learned from international examples of the use of limited humanitarian visas to allow people to apply for asylum from their country of origin.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a proud history of providing protection for those who need it through a number of safe and legal routes. However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.
The UK continues to welcome refugees and people in need through our existing global resettlement schemes which include the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement Scheme. Alongside these schemes, we operate specific schemes for those fleeing Ukraine and Afghanistan, and an immigration route for British National (overseas) status holders from Hong Kong.
There are additional safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK should they wish to join family members here, work or study.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of using limited humanitarian visas to allow people to apply for asylum from their country of origin.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a proud history of providing protection for those who need it through a number of safe and legal routes. However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.
The UK continues to welcome refugees and people in need through our existing global resettlement schemes which include the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement Scheme. Alongside these schemes, we operate specific schemes for those fleeing Ukraine and Afghanistan, and an immigration route for British National (overseas) status holders from Hong Kong.
There are additional safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK should they wish to join family members here, work or study.