Afghan Special Forces Relocation Review

Luke Pollard Excerpts

Friday 16th May 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (Luke Pollard)]

Following my statement in the autumn of last year, I would like to further update the House on the progress of the Triples review.

In my previous statement on the Triples review, on 14 October 2024—Vol. 754, c. 612 of the Official Report —I committed to updating the House on the review’s progress. I can now announce that the case work within the initial scope of the review has been completed, with approximately 30% of those decisions now overturned. We have continued to relocate and settle eligible Triples who supported the UK mission in Afghanistan to restart their life in UK. All eligibility decisions are made against policy considering the individual circumstances of the applicant, in line with UK immigration rules.

However, the work of the review is not yet complete. As I set out in my previous statement, officials have continued to analyse and strengthen their understanding of the payment records that the Ministry of Defence holds relating to members of Afghan partner forces.

Following further advice, I am now satisfied that, in addition to the payment records that for some Triples have been sufficient to evidence a direct employment relationship with HM Government, for others, top-up pay will also be sufficient in this context to demonstrate that they have worked alongside us. Further, it will mean that, in some cases, evidence of certain top-up payments will also be sufficient to demonstrate a substantive and positive contribution to the UK’s military or national security objectives in Afghanistan due to the nature of the work undertaken by those individuals. This revised approach will make it more likely that some Triples previously found ineligible will secure a positive decision, if they can also demonstrate that they meet the other conditions for eligibility.

So I am today announcing that the Triples review will move into a second and final phase to ensure that all those impacted by this change in approach will have their case reviewed. This will include some applicants who were in scope of the original review, but also others who were not.

Further details on phase 2 of the review are available in the terms of reference, which will be published online in the coming days alongside the Afghan relocations and assistance policy criteria. We are also publishing more details of the earlier work, which will be known as phase 1 of the review.

I want to reiterate that I am committed to getting this right and I believe that launching a second and final phase of this review is the right thing to do, to ensure that we deliver on our moral obligation to all those who should be eligible. I can assure the House that all those who have already had their application reviewed under phase 1 and have had a fresh decision made have either been contacted or will be contacted in due course, and that all those who have decisions made throughout phase 2 will be contacted on a rolling basis.

All decisions made in phases 1 and 2 of the Triples review will also carry a right to have this decision reviewed. I am not going to fall into the trap, as the previous Government did, of committing to a timeline that is clearly not deliverable, but I will keep the House updated on progress, and I am personally invested and remain committed to completing this as quickly as possible.

Finally, as the Defence Secretary set out in his statement in December, the Government intend to reach a position where the UK Afghan resettlement schemes can be closed. We will update the House on this accordingly.

[HCWS645]