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Written Question
Afghanistan: Refugees
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what support the Government is providing to people who have fled from Afghanistan to (a) Iran, (b) Pakistan and (c) other third countries.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Since April 2021, the UK has disbursed over £600 million in aid to Afghanistan. This includes £17 million to support humanitarian organisations in Afghanistan's neighbouring countries. This has assisted Afghan migrants and asylum seekers moving across borders, and refugee and host communities in those countries.

We continue to monitor the situation. For those Afghan nationals eligible under ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) and ACRS (Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme) Pathway 3, the UK Government continues to provide discretionary support to those in Iran, Pakistan, and other third countries - this includes accommodation, food and medical care.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Wednesday 31st January 2024

Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contribution by the Minister for Immigration to the debate on Safe Asylum Routes: Afghan Refugees of 17 October 2023, official report, column 54WH, what progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on reuniting Afghans evacuated under Operation Pitting in August 2021 with family members.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The government remains committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan. The situation is complex and presents significant challenges, including how those who are eligible for resettlement in the UK can leave the country. This includes eligible immediate family members of those being resettled under the ACRS.

For those evacuated from Afghanistan under ACRS P1 without their immediate family members, the Home Secretary has committed to establishing a route for separated families to be reunited. We expect to receive referrals in the first half of 2024.

Individuals remaining in Afghanistan or elsewhere are not obliged to wait for the pathway for eligible family members of ACRS P1 to open. Appendix FM, for example, provides a route for those seeking to enter the UK on the basis of their family life.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Wednesday 24th January 2024

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.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the (a) earliest date and (b) longest continuous period that anyone from Afghanistan has been accommodated in a bridging hotel.

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.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new arrivals from Afghanistan have been placed in bridging hotels 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.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from Afghanistan are living in bridging hotels.

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.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Wednesday 10th January 2024

Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks made by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 18 December 2023 (HL Deb cols 2046-2049) how many members of the Hazara community targeted by the Taliban and IS-K in Afghanistan have been resettled to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy or the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Resettlement of eligible Afghans remains a top priority for this Government.

The latest published Immigration system statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab) show that at the end of September 2023, around 24,600 vulnerable people affected by the events in Afghanistan have been brought to safety so far.

Statistics on individuals resettled or relocated under the Afghan schemes is available in the immigration system statistics release. For detailed data, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement datasets.

The Home Office does not publish data on resettlement by ethnicity, as ethnicity is not routinely collected in a way that is reportable.

The capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and difficult decisions have to be made on who will be prioritised for resettlement.

We continue to work with likeminded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Wednesday 20th December 2023

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan households who arrived in the UK under Operation Warm Welcome remain in interim hotels under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The UK has made one of the largest commitments of any country to support those impacted by events in Afghanistan.

The last publication of Afghan Resettlement Operational data released on the 30 September 2023 (updated on 23 November 2023) shows the following: 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. This number changes frequently as those within interim move into settled accommodation.

For more information on individuals within interim accommodation, including nationality, age and sex breakdowns, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. 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 occupation. The next release of Afghan Operational Data is scheduled for around the 22 February 2024.


Written Question
Asylum: Applications
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to require that all asylum seekers must have a personal interview as part of the application process.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The criteria for when a substantive asylum interview can be omitted are contained in Paragraph 339NA of the Immigration Rules and include cases where we are able to take a positive decision on the basis of evidence available, or if the claimant is unfit or unable to be interviewed owing to enduring circumstances beyond their control. All asylum claimants are subject to a screening interview and mandatory security checks to confirm their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks.  These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.  

The Home Office currently assesses it appropriate to generally omit personal interviews from nationals of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen, as well as from Sudan, specifically in relation to claims made on or after 28th June 2022, where sufficient evidence is available to confirm nationality and there are no other factors that would mean a personal interview was required, for example security or criminality concerns.   Instead, an asylum questionnaire is provided to claimants to allow them to explain why they require protection status in the UK. Where further information is required after the questionnaire is returned, we will, where possible, conduct a targeted or shorter interview to obtain the necessary information from the claimant as quickly as possible.

Omitting personal interviews is not limited to the nationalities noted and can be done in-line with paragraph 339NA of the Immigration Rules on a case-by-case basis.


Written Question
Rwanda: Refugees
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an estimate of the number of refugees relocated to Rwanda via resettlement schemes from other countries.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

In October 2023, Rwanda hosted 135,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Rwanda hosts the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM), which facilitates the temporary evacuation of refugees and asylum-seekers from Libya. By September 2023, 1,737 refugees and asylum seekers had arrived in Rwanda under the ETM. Once in Rwanda, the UNHCR registers and verifies the refugees and asylum seekers and determines their refugee status. Rwanda currently hosts 698 refugees and asylum seekers under this scheme, pending resettlement in third countries. They also have the option of returning to their home countries or staying and integrating in Rwanda, although no refugees have chosen this so far.

We are also aware from open source reporting of refugees from Afghanistan and Sudan who have successfully resettled in Rwanda, including:

a) The entire student body of the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA), a girls' boarding school which relocated from Kabul to Rwanda after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Nearly 250 members of the SOLA community, including all 100 students, arrived in Rwanda. More Afghan students continue to arrive and live/stay at the school in Rwanda each year.

b) Sudan's University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) relocated to Rwanda because of civil war in its home country. The UMST plans to transfer over 7,000 students to Rwanda. So far, 280 students have arrived in Kigali, been granted student visas, and are continuing their studies.