Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the (a) number of Afghan nationals resettled under the ACRS who have higher education qualifications and (b) proportion of that number who acquired those qualifications in the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6th January. The ACRS will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
We do not capture of hold details of individuals qualifications so are unable to provide this information
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her timetable is for conclusions of the review into the Government’s policy on asylum seeker's rights to work; and if she will publish details of the (a) progress, (b) outcomes and (c) activity of the review to 14 March 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The review of asylum seeker right to work policy has been concluded. We are retaining our policy with no further changes.
A Written Ministerial Statement was made on 8 December, setting out the Home Office’s findings and rationale: Asylum Seekers: Right to Work Policy - Hansard - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of (a) the number of Afghan nationals resettled under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme who have higher education qualifications and (b) the proportion of that number who acquired those qualifications in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6th January. The ACRS will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
Afghans who are eligible under ACRS or ARAP are working with job centre work coaches to assess their readiness for the jobs market, including their skills and qualifications.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the eligibility of Afghan nationals who formerly attended UK universities to be resettled in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The ACRS is not yet open. Officials are working urgently to stand up the remaining elements of the scheme.
Further information on the eligibility, prioritisation and referral of people for the ACRS is set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September, available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle gun smuggling across (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is committed to tackling the threat posed by trafficking and the misuse of illicit firearms. The UK has some of the toughest firearms controls in the world. We are continuing to reduce the supply and availability of illegal firearms to prevent their use by criminal or terrorist groups in the UK. The Government works closely with law enforcement to protect the public by tackling criminal use of firearms and disrupting illegal supply routes. Our approach is centred around partnership working, securing and enhancing capabilities at the border and reducing diversion from the legal to the illegal market.
For example, the NCA-led Operation Venetic, a sophisticated clampdown on organised criminals which saw international law enforcement agencies working together to infiltrate encrypted messaging platform EncroChat, has seen over 700 arrests for drugs and firearms offences across the UK, including in the West Midlands.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle firearm offences crime across (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is committed to tackling the threat posed by trafficking and the misuse of illicit firearms. The UK has some of the toughest firearms controls in the world. We are continuing to reduce the supply and availability of illegal firearms to prevent their use by criminal or terrorist groups in the UK. The Government works closely with law enforcement to protect the public by tackling criminal use of firearms and disrupting illegal supply routes. Our approach is centred around partnership working, securing and enhancing capabilities at the border and reducing diversion from the legal to the illegal market.
For example, the NCA-led Operation Venetic, a sophisticated clampdown on organised criminals which saw international law enforcement agencies working together to infiltrate encrypted messaging platform EncroChat, has seen over 700 arrests for drugs and firearms offences across the UK, including in the West Midlands.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to take steps to grant urgent amnesty to undocumented migrants residing in the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government remains committed to an immigration policy which welcomes and celebrates people to the UK through safe and legal routes but deters illegal immigration, partially from safe countries like France
The Immigration Rules already provide routes for undocumented migrants, who have not broken the law except for remaining here without lawful immigration status,to obtain permission to stay.
These Rules help to ensure public confidence in the immigration system. Whilst the Rules are kept under continuous review, there are no current plans to introduce an amnesty for undocumented migrants in the UK.