Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what legal asylum or immigration routes there are for Afghan academics who worked with visiting British academics under the Development Partnerships in Higher Education (DelPHE) scheme, and who have subsequently been threatened by the Taliban regime, but have had their application to come to the UK under Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) rejected.

The UK has made one of the largest commitments to support Afghanistan of any country and, so far, we have brought around 23,000 people affected by the situation in Afghanistan to safety. This includes more than 6,300 vulnerable Afghan nationals through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).

This is one of the most ambitious resettlement schemes in our country’s history and we are proud to offer a safe and legal route to those affected by events in Afghanistan.

Those who are not offered resettlement under the ACRS or ARAP including Afgan academics will need to apply to come to the UK under our existing economic or family migration rules.  Further information can be found on the website at:

https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration

Whilst the UK has made a generous resettlement commitment, we must bear in mind the capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and therefore difficult decisions about who will be prioritised for resettlement have to be made.