Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 September 2022 to Question 49057 on Afghanistan: Refugees, how many Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy applications were awaiting an initial decision by his Department as of 28 November 2022.

To date, we have relocated over 12,000 ARAP principals and their dependants to the UK, including over 5,000 since Op PITTING concluded at the end of August 2021.

As of 29 November 2022, there are approximately 74,135 ARAP applicants awaiting a decision on their application. However, it is important to note that this includes applicants who did not provide valid contact details when submitting their application. Furthermore, based on employment records we estimate that the vast majority of the outstanding 74,135 applicants are ineligible under the ARAP Scheme.