Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people to date have been settled in the UK as part of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme who have been identified as meeting the criteria due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identifies refugees for resettlement using its established criteria. The resettlement submissions categories used by the UNHCR are Legal and or Physical Protection Needs; Survivors of Torture and/or Violence; Medical Needs; Women and Girls at Risk; Family Reunification; Children and Adolescents at Risk and Lack of Foreseeable Alternative Durable Solutions.

Individuals are not required to disclose their sexuality or gender identity during the resettlement process, however, those whose protection need arises for those reasons are likely to be referred under the submission category of ‘Legal and/or Physical Protection Needs’.

We do not publish details of the reasons refugees are referred, however those providing support to the refugees on arrival in the UK receive information prior to their arrival in the UK, so that support can be tailored to their needs.