Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghans nationals have arrived in the UK under Pathway 2 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme as of 31 August 2022.

The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) launched in January, and this will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle and re-build their lives in the UK over the coming years.

The ACRS is not application-based. Instead, eligible individuals will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.

Under ACRS Pathway 2, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will refer refugees - who have already fled Afghanistan - for resettlement to the UK. Those referred will be assessed for resettlement by the UNHCR, using their established processes.

We have now begun to receive the first referrals for resettlement under Pathway 2 of the ACRS – which opened in June – from the UNHCR. It is anticipated that we will receive referrals for up to 2,000 refugees during the first year of this pathway, although this number will be kept under review – and we look forward to welcoming the first new arrivals under this pathway in due course.

Further information on UNHCR referrals is available at:

UNHCR UK Information and Links on Afghanistan Situation - UNHCR United Kingdom