Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on progressing Afghanistan-related cases in the context of the UK co-hosting the United Nation’s pledging summit on Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis.

On 14 April, the chairs of the UN Afghanistan Pledging Summit published a statement on the outcome of the conference, which was held in March 2022 and was co-hosted by the UK, Germany and Qatar. Highlights include pledges of $2.4bn in support of the continued humanitarian response and a commitment to tailoring humanitarian aid in 2022 to specifically address the distinct needs of women and girls in Afghanistan. The statement can be viewed in its entirety at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/un-afghanistan-pledging-summit-chairs-statement-14-april-2022

The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6 January 2022, and will provide up to 20,000 eligible women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.

We will exceed our initial aim to resettle 5,000 through ACRS in the first year. 6,500 people have already been brought to safety in the UK during and after the evacuation and who are eligible for the ACRS.

We are working at pace to prepare to receive the first referrals under Pathways 2 and 3 as soon as we can, so that individuals affected by the events in Afghanistan can safely arrive in the UK and rebuild their lives.

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) provides relocation and assistance to Locally Employed Staff directly employed by, or worked closely alongside, Her Majesty’s Government and assessed to be at serious risk of threat to life in Afghanistan with over 7,000 people have been relocated to the UK so far. The ARAP remains open, and the Home Office is continuing to work with the Ministry of Defence and the FCDO to relocate those who are eligible under ARAP.