Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department provides to at-risk (a) third sector and (b) non-governmental organisation staff in Afghanistan with resettlement in the UK.

The Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. It is designed to support those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values, as well as vulnerable people, such as women and girls. The scheme is not application based. Instead, eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways set out in the Statement to Parliament of 6 January 2022:

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/oral-statement-on-the-afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme.

Further details on the ACRS referral pathways can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme.

Under Pathway 3 of the ACRS, in the first year, we will offer resettlement places to up to 1,500 people from the three identified cohorts (British Council, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni) and their eligible family members in Afghanistan and the region.

The online referral process for this pathway closed on 15 August 2022. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will be in touch with those eligible to support them through the next steps.

Beyond the first year of Pathway 3, the Government will work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk.

Further information on this can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme-pathway-3-eligibility-for-british-council-and-gardaworld-contractors-and-chevening-alumni.