Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the human rights implications of the forced deportations of Afghans from Pakistan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government continues to monitor the return of Afghans from Pakistan. Pakistan has a long history of welcoming vulnerable refugees and we urge them to respect the human rights of all Afghans in Pakistan. We are working with the UN Refugee Agency to ensure Pakistan adheres to its international human rights obligations. Since September, we have committed £18.5 million to the International Organisation for Migration in Afghanistan to support vulnerable undocumented people returning from Pakistan and Iran. We are monitoring the situation in Afghanistan, including the humanitarian and human rights implications. We note the Taliban's creation of a Refugee Commission to aid the resettlement of people returning.
Asked by: Steven Bonnar (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a resettlement scheme for Palestinian refugees.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Since 2015, over half a million people were offered safe and legal routes into the UK. This includes over 28.600 individuals resettled to the UK under our global resettlement schemes. We continue to provide the most vulnerable refugees in need of protection a route to safety directly from regions of conflict and instability through these schemes, which include the UK Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement scheme. This represents one of the most generous resettlement offers in the UK's history. However, the U.K. only has finite capacity. We cannot provide a safe and legal route for every conflict in the world.
There are no plans to introduce bespoke arrangements for people arriving from the region, and we are not considering establishing a separate route for Palestinians to come to the UK. Immediate family members of British citizens, and those settled in the UK, who wish to come and live in the UK and do not have a current UK visa, can apply under one of the existing family visa routes. The UK's efforts are focussed on ensuring aid reaches those who need in most. The Prime Minister announced on Monday 23 October that the UK will provide a further £20 million of humanitarian aid for civilians. This latest funding is in addition to the £10 million of aid announced by the Prime Minister last week.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many refugees have been resettled in the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme via (1) Pathway 1, (2) Pathway 2, and (3) Pathway 3; and for each pathway, how many of those have been resettled (a) in total, (b) between January to July 2023, and (c) since July 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
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.
The data published within: immigration system statistics release (year ending June 2023, published 24 August 2023) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter. The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows: 9,676 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 66 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 41 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.
Afghan Operational data is viewable at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Afghan operational data is released quarterly with the next publication due around the 23 November 2023.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a Homes for Palestinians scheme similar to Homes for Ukraine.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Since 2015, over half a million people were offered safe and legal routes into the UK. This includes over 28,600 individuals resettled to the UK under our global resettlement schemes. We continue to provide the most vulnerable refugees in need of protection a route to safety directly from regions of conflict and instability through these schemes, which include the UK Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement scheme. This represents one of the most generous resettlement offers in the UK’s history.
However, the U.K. only has finite capacity. We cannot provide a safe and legal route for every conflict in the world. There are no plans to introduce bespoke arrangements for people arriving from the region, and we are not considering establishing a separate route for Palestinians to come to the UK.
Immediate family members of British citizens, and those settled in the UK, who wish to come and live in the UK and do not have a current UK visa, can apply under one of the existing family visa routes.
The UK’s efforts are focussed on ensuring aid reaches those who need in most.The Prime Minister announced on Monday 23 October that the UK will provide a further £20 million of humanitarian aid for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). This latest funding is in addition to the £10 million of aid announced by the Prime Minister last week.
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 Westminster Hall debate on Safe Asylum Routes: Afghan Refugees on 17 October 2023, whether unaccompanied children who came to the UK through the Afghan Citizen's Resettlement Scheme 1 will be able to sponsor family members who are still in (a) Afghanistan and (b) a third country, to resettle in the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government remains committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan. However, 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.
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 Westminster Hall debate on Safe Asylum Routes: Afghan Refugees on 17th October 2023, whether she has made an estimate of the number of additional caseworkers required to ensure all Afghan people who have come to the UK through the Afghan Citizen's Resettlement Scheme 1 can be reunited with family members eligible for family reunion in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government is committed to ensuring operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system, and we actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand.
We also remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan. The situation in the region 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.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to help ensure there are effective routes for refugee family reunion in the UK for Palestinian refugees seeking to join family members in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government’s refugee family reunion policy provides a safe and legal route to bring families together. This route allows for family reunion applications from recognised refugees who have protection status in the UK.
The UK has a proud history of supporting refugees. Since 2015, we have offered a safe and legal route to over half a million people seeking safety in the UK. The UK continues to welcome refugees through our existing resettlement schemes which include the global UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship, the Mandate Resettlement Scheme and the family reunion route.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made representations to the Government of Pakistan following the announcement of the return of Afghan refugees to Afghanistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK is monitoring the Government of Pakistan's policy on the deportation of undocumented migrants, recognising that every country has the sovereign right to manage their borders. The former Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, discussed this with Caretaker Prime Minister Kakar and Caretaker Foreign Minister Jilani and received assurances towards the safety of Afghans who are eligible for UK resettlement under the ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) and ACRS (Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme) schemes. We encourage Pakistan to adhere to its international human rights obligations and provide opportunities for refugees to register for asylum. The UK has committed £16 million to the International Organization for Migration in Afghanistan to support undocumented returnees.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of 17 October 2023 by the Minister for Immigration on safe asylum routes for Afghan refugees, Official Report, Column 54WH, how many and what proportion of people who submitted an Expression of Interest in resettlement to the UK under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and have been assessed by his Department as eligible in principle for resettlement under that pathway are located in (a) Afghanistan and (b) a third country.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Given the sensitivity of the security checks element of the process, we are unable to give precise numbers of individuals at each stage of the process. This is a dynamic picture, which changes daily. It would not be helpful for those in Afghanistan for us to give a running commentary on numbers, which could draw attention to those preparing to cross the border.
As of 19 October, there are circa 910 eligible individuals under ACRS Pathway 3 being supported in third countries.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a safe route for visa applications from Sudanese nationals fleeing conflict.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK has a proud history of supporting refugees. Since 2015, we have offered a safe and legal route to over half a million people seeking safety in the UK. The UK continues to welcome refugees through our existing resettlement schemes which include the global UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement Scheme.
The UK is proud to have welcomed Sudanese nationals through both our UK Resettlement Scheme and Community Sponsorship in 2021 and 2022, and we also welcome eligible Sudanese nationals through our refugee family reunion route.
While our safe and legal routes are some of the most generous anywhere, we cannot accommodate everyone who wants to come to the UK, and we are not able to open a bespoke route for every situation. The UK has no plans to introduce a designated resettlement scheme for Sudanese refugees.
It is our long-standing principle that those in need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.