Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many family members of Afghan interpreters (1) have been relocated to the UK, and (2) are awaiting relocation to the UK having received security clearance.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Since the ARAP schemed opened in April 2021, Defence has relocated over 9,500 ARAP eligible people to the UK, of this over 4,000 have been family members and other dependants.
As of 15 June, 136 ARAP principals who have passed UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) checks are awaiting relocation to the UK from third countries. We cannot provide the number of ARAP dependants who have passed UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) checks and are awaiting relocation.
It is not possible to provide a breakdown of these figures by job role.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British nationals who are Russian speakers were employed in each of the last five years by the Armed Forces.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The table below shows a count of British national Service personnel recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) MI System as holding a Russian language competence during their service in each of the last five years. This information was extracted from the JPA MI System on 2 February 2022.
Type | Calendar Year | ||||
Assignment Type | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Regular | 200 | 220 | 230 | 160 | 160 |
Reserve | 100 | 110 | 100 | 50 | 60 |
Grand Total | 300 | 320 | 320 | 210 | 220 |
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias. Totals have been rounded independently and may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they keep a contact database of all locally employed civilian interpreters who have worked for UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Due to the time elapsed since employment, and the security vulnerabilities inherent in using contact details that are over a decade old in some cases, we do not and cannot maintain a contact database of all locally employed staff who have worked for UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan. Our locally employed civilian interpreters are able to contact us through our dedicated team the Afghanistan Threat and Risk Evaluation Unit (ATREU) with the contact details available on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy will be administered solely by UK Embassy staff or whether any provision for its delivery will be contracted out to private companies.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy is an MOD owned policy which is jointly administered by the MOD, Home Office and FCDO. Initial contact will be with the expert in theatre team, with assistance from officials from the other Government departments named above at different stages of the process. The delivery of the scheme is supported in Kabul by the International Office Of Migration who facilitate some of the in-country activity. Currently HMG has no plans for private companies to support.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) interpreters, and (2) members of interpreters' families, have been accepted for relocation but have not yet been relocated under the (a) ex gratia redundancy scheme, and (b) the intimidation policy; and when they expect that they will be relocated.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
A total of 104 former locally employed staff are eligible for relocation under the Ex-Gratia Scheme and are still in the process of being relocated. All but two are interpreters. We cannot comment with certainty on the number of family members, because some of the eligible applicants are not yet at the stage of the process where this is known.
The Intimidation Policy closed on 31 March 2021. It was replaced by the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy on 01 April 2021. There are no outstanding relocations under the Intimidation Policy.
A total of 107 current and former locally employed staff are eligible for relocation under the new Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy and are still in the process of being relocated. Most are interpreters. We cannot comment with certainty on the number of family members, because some of the eligible applicants are not yet at the stage of the process where this is known. I expect that these former and current locally employed staff and their families will be relocated before 11 September 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) interpreters, and (2) members of interpreters' families, have been relocated from Afghanistan to the UK under the (a) ex gratia redundancy scheme, and (b) intimidation policy.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
A total of 448 locally employed staff and 910 family members have been relocated from Afghanistan to the UK, 1,358 in total. Of those, all but six were interpreters. Four were relocated under the Intimidation Policy, one under the new Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy which came into force on 1 April 2021, and the remainder under the Ex-Gratia Scheme.
The Intimidation Policy closed on 31 March 2021. It was replaced by the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy on 1 April 2021 and one relocation has taken place so far under that scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many locally employed civilian interpreters who (1) have previously worked, or (2) currently work, for the UK Armed Forces (a) remain in Afghanistan, and (b) have fled to a third country.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
UK Armed Forces do not currently employ any locally employed civilian interpreters in Afghanistan. Of those locally employed civilian interpreters who previously worked for UK Armed Forces, we do not hold any information on how many remain in Afghanistan; it would be impossible to maintain such a record, as it would require regular updates from those who left employment with us between four and 20 years ago. Our locally employed civilian interpreters do not update us as to their whereabouts. Of those locally employed civilian interpreters who previously worked for UK Armed Forces, we are aware of 15 who are currently in a third country. Not all would be eligible for relocation even if they in Afghanistan.