Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full time equivalent staff worked on the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme in each month since February 2023 for which figures are available.
Answered by James Heappey
The data to answer this question will take time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member when it is available.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) full and (b) part time staff worked on the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme in each month since April 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
The data to answer this question will take time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member when it is available.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme principals with confirmed eligibility to come to the UK during or before Op Pitting were in Afghanistan in each month since September 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
Due to data constraints, we are unable to provide a breakdown of a specific group's relocations by month. However, we can confirm that as per my answer to Question 187104, our records show that four individuals remain in Afghanistan who were confirmed as eligible for ARAP prior to the end of Op Pitting. We are actively supporting the relocation of those wishing to relocate to the UK.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were relocated to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy in (a) March 2023 and (b) April 2023.
Answered by James Heappey
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on Wednesday 7 June 2023 to Question 187102.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April to Question 176544 on Afghanistan: Refugees, whether the number of principal applicants with confirmed eligibility for relocation to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy with whom the Department has lost contact since April 2021 is now greater than 54.
Answered by James Heappey
The number of eligible principles under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy with whom we have lost contact is currently 74. Of these 41 are, to the best of our knowledge, in Afghanistan.
Applicants may fall out of contact with us for a variety of reasons: they may have changed their contact details and not informed us or have decided to relocate elsewhere. We continue to use a range of means to re-establish contact with these applicants in order to continue their relocation to the UK, should they wish to proceed.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many decisions have been taken on applications through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme was since its establishment on 1 April 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested can be found in the table below. The data in the table is drawn from a live system and as such, is subject to change as we continue to refine and improve our processes.
Month | Number of ARAP applications received (including duplicates) | Number of Unique ARAP applications processed / Total Number of Eligibility Decisions |
April 2021 | 118 | 7 |
May 2021 | 664 | 68 |
June 2021 | 4,460 | 81 |
July 2021 | 3,726 | 354 |
August 2021 | 63,179 | 2,237 |
September 2021 | 16,508 | 10 |
October 2021 | 5,897 | 49 |
November 2021 | 4,511 | 9 |
December 2021 | 3,220 | 14 |
January 2022 | 6,384 | 140 |
February 2022 | 3,723 | 244 |
March 2022 | 2,197 | 348 |
April 2022 | 1,670 | 48 |
May 2022 | 1,907 | 96 |
June 2022 | 1,729 | 394 |
July 2022 | 1,768 | 1,155 |
August 2022 | 2,684 | 1,659 |
September 2022 | 2,170 | 1,701 |
October 2022 | 2,051 | 2,043 |
November 2022 | 1,784 | 2,550 |
December 2022 | 1,284 | 2,196 |
January 2023 | 1,348 | 2,845 |
February 2023 | 2,126 | 3,280 |
March 2023 | 1,474 | 3,949 |
April 2023 | 1,500 | 2,217 |
May 2023 | 1,023 | 4,632 |
To note, the number of unique Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) applications (excluding duplicate applications) processed is the same as the number of eligibility decisions made and therefore, the answer to questions b) and c) have been answered under the same column.
There are a high number of duplicate ARAP applications and when an eligible decision is made on each unique ARAP application, this will simultaneously process all associated duplicate application. Therefore, the figure for total cleared applications will be much greater.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme were (a) received; (b) processed; and (c) had eligibility decisions made in each month since April 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested can be found in the table below. The data in the table is drawn from a live system and as such, is subject to change as we continue to refine and improve our processes.
Month | Number of ARAP applications received (including duplicates) | Number of Unique ARAP applications processed / Total Number of Eligibility Decisions |
April 2021 | 118 | 7 |
May 2021 | 664 | 68 |
June 2021 | 4,460 | 81 |
July 2021 | 3,726 | 354 |
August 2021 | 63,179 | 2,237 |
September 2021 | 16,508 | 10 |
October 2021 | 5,897 | 49 |
November 2021 | 4,511 | 9 |
December 2021 | 3,220 | 14 |
January 2022 | 6,384 | 140 |
February 2022 | 3,723 | 244 |
March 2022 | 2,197 | 348 |
April 2022 | 1,670 | 48 |
May 2022 | 1,907 | 96 |
June 2022 | 1,729 | 394 |
July 2022 | 1,768 | 1,155 |
August 2022 | 2,684 | 1,659 |
September 2022 | 2,170 | 1,701 |
October 2022 | 2,051 | 2,043 |
November 2022 | 1,784 | 2,550 |
December 2022 | 1,284 | 2,196 |
January 2023 | 1,348 | 2,845 |
February 2023 | 2,126 | 3,280 |
March 2023 | 1,474 | 3,949 |
April 2023 | 1,500 | 2,217 |
May 2023 | 1,023 | 4,632 |
To note, the number of unique Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) applications (excluding duplicate applications) processed is the same as the number of eligibility decisions made and therefore, the answer to questions b) and c) have been answered under the same column.
There are a high number of duplicate ARAP applications and when an eligible decision is made on each unique ARAP application, this will simultaneously process all associated duplicate application. Therefore, the figure for total cleared applications will be much greater.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many government-funded flights from Pakistan to the UK with Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme passengers have taken off in each month since September 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
Since September 2021, 30 Government-funded flights have been organised by the Ministry of Defence to relocate Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) eligible individuals to the UK. This includes both RAF Voyager flights and civilian charter flights and therefore, the information requested can be found in the table below.
In addition to the flights shown below, some individuals have relocated to the UK on commercial flights with their travel funded by HM Government.
Month | RAF Voyager flights | Civilian Charter flights |
September 2021 | 0 | 0 |
October 2021 | 3 | 0 |
November 2021 | 3 | 0 |
December 2021 | 1 | 0 |
January 2022 | 2 | 0 |
February 2022 | 2 | 0 |
March 2022 | 1 | 0 |
April 2022 | 2 | 0 |
May 2022 | 2 | 0 |
June 2022 | 1 | 0 |
July 2022 | 2 | 0 |
August 2022 | 1 | 1 |
September 2022 | 1 | 3 |
October 2022 | 2 | 0 |
November 2022 | 2 | 1 |
December 2022 | 0 | 0 |
January 2023 | 0 | 0 |
February 2023 | 0 | 0 |
March 2023 | 0 | 0 |
April 2023 | 0 | 0 |
May 2023 | 0 | 0 |
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) principals with confirmation of their eligibility for relocation to the UK under the ARAP scheme made before the end of Operation PITTING remain in Afghanistan as of 2 June 2023.
Answered by James Heappey
As of 5 June 2023, our records show four Afghans confirmed eligible prior to the end of Op Pitting remain in Afghanistan. We are actively supporting the relocation of those wishing to relocate to the UK.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme were rejected by his Department in each month since April 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
As of 31 May 2023, 28,790 ARAP applications have been rejected by the Ministry of Defence. A monthly breakdown is available below.
A finite number of Afghans are eligible for ARAP. Based on HMG records, we estimate there are approximately 378 Afghans eligible for ARAP remaining in Afghanistan. It is important that every applicant to the scheme receives a response, but we know the vast majority of applications are speculative and likely ineligible, so our priority is finding and supporting the relocation of eligible Afghans and their families out of Afghanistan and into the safety of third countries at best pace.
Month | Not eligible decisions |
April 2021 | 0 |
May 2021 | 1 |
June 2021 | 18 |
July 2021 | 210 |
August 2021 | 37 |
September 2021 | 1 |
October 2021 | 0 |
November 2021 | 2 |
December 2021 | 1 |
January 2022 | 6 |
February 2022 | 136 |
March 2022 | 274 |
April 2022 | 40 |
May 2022 | 29 |
June 2022 | 189 |
July 2022 | 1,030 |
August 2022 | 1,634 |
September 2022 | 1,677 |
October 2022 | 2,028 |
November 2022 | 2,521 |
December 2022 | 2,140 |
January 2023 | 2,831 |
February 2023 | 3,233 |
March 2023 | 3,935 |
April 2023 | 2,197 |
May 2023 | 4,620 |
TOTAL | 28,790 |