Afghanistan: Refugees

(asked on 25th October 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on the date on which the Afghan Citizens Resettlement programme will open; and what steps the Government is taking to secure the safe passage out of Afghanistan of journalists and former journalists whose lives are immediately at risk until the Afghan Citizens Resettlement programme opens.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 1st November 2021

The Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide those put at risk by recent events in Afghanistan with a route to safety. The ACRS is one of the most generous schemes in our country's history under which we will welcome up to 5,000 vulnerable Afghans over the next year and up to a total of 20,000 in the coming years. The Foreign Secretary has discussed the ACRS with the Home Secretary and Lord Ahmad has had regular meetings with the Minister for Afghan Resettlement, Victoria Atkins, most recently on 27 October. Officials are in daily contact. The scheme is not yet open and further details will be announced in due course by the Home Office. Further details on the scheme will be published here: Afghanistan resettlement and immigration policy statement - GOV.UK.

Reticulating Splines