Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a safe route for visa applications from Sudanese nationals fleeing conflict.

The UK has a proud history of supporting refugees. Since 2015, we have offered a safe and legal route to over half a million people seeking safety in the UK. The UK continues to welcome refugees through our existing resettlement schemes which include the global UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement Scheme.

The UK is proud to have welcomed Sudanese nationals through both our UK Resettlement Scheme and Community Sponsorship in 2021 and 2022, and we also welcome eligible Sudanese nationals through our refugee family reunion route.

While our safe and legal routes are some of the most generous anywhere, we cannot accommodate everyone who wants to come to the UK, and we are not able to open a bespoke route for every situation. The UK has no plans to introduce a designated resettlement scheme for Sudanese refugees.

It is our long-standing principle that those in need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.