Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment was made of the potential impact of the decision to introduce student visa breaks for nationals of Sudan and Afghanistan on access to higher education in those countries.

Equality Impact Assessments have been completed in line with the Equality Act 2010 for the emergency brakes on Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan. These were completed alongside extensive cross-government assessments and consultations as each nationality was under consideration.

The UK takes its humanitarian, development, and conflict prevention work seriously and remains committed to supporting countries affected by conflict, instability, and poverty. In Afghanistan, the UK’s £151 million aid programme (equivalent to 13.3 billion Afghanis) provides lifesaving support to vulnerable communities, with a commitment that at least half of those reached are women and girls.

The UK is equally committed to supporting people in Sudan, Myanmar, and neighbouring regions. The UK provides £146 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan this financial year, assisting over 2.5 million people since the conflict began in 2023. In Myanmar, the UK continues to support a more stable future for the population, providing humanitarian assistance to more than 1.4 million people in the past year and essential health services to 1.3 million. Since the 2021 military coup, the UK has supplied over £190 million in assistance to help address the country’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.

As set out in the Restoring Order and Control policy statement, the Government remains committed to the introduction of capped safe and legal routes for refugees and displaced people to come to the United Kingdom. These new safe and legal routes will start this autumn with a student refugee route, with the first arrivals in Autumn 2027. Dedicated humanitarian routes are the appropriate way to combine compassion and control with securing our border.

Continuing to operate a Study route where, for example, in the past 3 years more Afghan students claimed asylum than we issued new student visas in each year, does not achieve the appropriate balance between compassion, control and a secure border.

The Impact Assessment published alongside the Statement of Changes on 5 March sets out the anticipated costs and potential savings of the visa brakes.