Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the resettlement of Syrian refugees in (a) the UK and (b) Europe.

I am pleased to confirm that Karen Pierce, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, UK Mission to the UN and Other International Organisations, Geneva will represent the UK at the UNHCR Global Resettlement Pledging
Conference on 9 December.

With over 3.2 million Syrian refugees now in Syria’s neighbouring countries, the Government believes that humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict are the most effective ways for the UK to help the majority of those
displaced, rather than large scale resettlement. We have made our position on this clear in relevant discussions with international partners and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We are aware that states have
responded to the crisis in different ways; it is right that the international community should consider all available means to relieve the suffering of Syrians displaced by the conflict. However, we strongly believe that we should continue to focus on aid rather than resettlement as the best way for the UK to maximise our impact.

To complement our humanitarian aid, we operate the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme to relocate the most vulnerable displaced Syrians who cannot be supported effectively long term in the region to the UK. This is in
addition to our consideration of asylum claims lodged in the UK under our normal rules.