Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to expand the Homes for Ukraine scheme to refugees from other conflicts, such as in Afghanistan, so they are not required to stay in bridging accommodation.

As set out in the FAQs on Homes for Ukraine, the UK has a long and proud history of welcoming migrants including recent arrivals from Syria, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. Every scheme is different and learns from the successes or challenges of those before. There has been a sponsorship route in operation for some years, and Homes for Ukraine is a developed version of that. We will look to see whether there are lessons we can apply from this scheme in future.

Where members of the public also wish to help Afghans or other refugees, we would encourage them to do so through working with their local authority, or through the Community Sponsorship scheme.

I refer the Hon Member to the following link: https://www.gov.uk/help-afghanistan/helping-people-to-settle-in-the-uk.