Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on processing applications to the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.

The UK has made one of the largest commitments of any country to support those impacted by events in Afghanistan.

The latest Immigration System Statistics, year ending December 2022, published on 23 February, show that since their first arrivals in 2021, the ACRS and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) have resettled a total of 21,387 people. These statistics also show that we have now resettled more than 7,600 vulnerable Afghan nationals through the first phase of the ACRS.

The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will see up to 20,000 people from Afghanistan and the region resettled to the UK over the coming years.

Under the second pathway, which opened in 2022, we have now begun to receive the first referrals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of vulnerable refugees who have fled Afghanistan for resettlement to the UK. We are pleased to have welcomed the first 22 people to the UK under Pathway 2.

Under Pathway 3 we have welcomed the first arrivals to the UK and look forward welcoming all remaining individuals under this Pathway as soon as is practically possible. There are currently no published statistics on Pathway 3 as arrivals under this pathway began after the start of the new reporting period. The next publication of statistics is due on 25 May 2023.

We will continue to honour our commitment to those who remain in Afghanistan and the region. Our priority is to ensure that future UK arrivals can go directly into appropriate accommodation rather than costly temporary hotel accommodation. Doing this, whilst making sure that these individuals are fully supported and are able to successfully integrate into life in the UK is the right thing to do.