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Written Question
Visas: Afghanistan
Wednesday 20th September 2023

Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 195848 on Visas: Afghanistan, what approach she is taking to reviewing processes to streamline decision making for family reunion visa applications; whether she plans to consult MPs; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Government’s refugee family reunion policy provides a safe and legal route to bring families together.

We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications to reduce the time separated families wait for a decision. This includes determining cases more swiftly where they are straightforward and meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules. We are also increasing decision making and other resource to support family reunion case processing. This is in addition to looking more broadly at how the end-to-end decision-making process can be simplified and streamlined.

Since 2015, 46,511 family reunion visas have been granted to family members of refugees as of the end of June 2023.


Written Question
Refugees: Families
Friday 15th September 2023

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the UNHCR on the reunification of families in safe countries.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The FCDO engages systematically with partners, such as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and regularly discusses treatment of refugees, including family reunification. The UK actively promotes the implementation of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention which asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. We also provide a safe and legal route to bring families together through its family reunion policy. This allows individuals with protection status in the UK to sponsor their partner or children to stay with or join them here.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Thursday 7th September 2023

Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on relocating Afghan refugees from hotels.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help resettle those fleeing persecution and those who served the UK. Since June 2021, we have brought 24,500 people to safety to the UK.

Bridging hotels are not and were never designed to be permanent accommodation. Long-term residency in hotels has prevented some Afghans from properly putting down roots, committing to employment and fully integrating into communities. The pace at which people can be moved on is dictated by the availability of suitable accommodation provided by local authorities.

From the end of April 2023, individuals staying in hotels and serviced accommodation began to receive legal notice to leave their temporary accommodation by a certain date. A dedicated cross-government casework team, made up of Home Office Liaison Officers and DWP staff, are based in hotels and work alongside local authority officials to provide advice and support to Afghans.

The Find Your Own (FYO) accommodation pathway has been established and empowers Afghan families to source their own accommodation, rather than the Home Office. Council support staff in hotels will work closely with households to help them navigate the pathway.


Written Question
Gaza: Food Aid
Friday 21st July 2023

Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implication for his policies of a suspension of food assistance to families in Gaza by the World Food Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We continue to monitor the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza. The UK is a key donor to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), providing essential humanitarian support to Palestinian refugees across its five zones of operation. In financial year 2022/2023, the UK provided UNRWA with £18.7 million, including £13 million for UNRWA's Programme Budget for spend in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), Jordan, Lebanon and Syria; as well as £2 million for an employment programme for Gazan women and £3.7 million for food assistance, both under UNRWA's OPTs Emergency Appeal. The UK is not currently a donor to the World Food Programme in Gaza, but recognises the critical role they play in supporting vulnerable families to have access to sufficient food.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Thursday 13th July 2023

Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is for Afghan refugees to be held in bridging hotels in the UK before being permanently resettled.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The UK has made one of the largest commitments of any country to support those impacted by events in Afghanistan.

The latest Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), published on 25 May 2023, shows that since their first arrivals in 2021, the Afghan schemes – the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) - have resettled a total of 21,004 people.

As of 25 May 2023, we were providing temporary accommodation for around 8,799 individuals resettled in the UK under the ARAP or ACRS, whilst they await permanent accommodation. More information on those that we are temporarily accommodating in hotels can be viewed at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

It is not accurate to describe Afghan families as being ‘held’ in bridging accommodation. They are living there temporarily, and we don’t want to see them in bridging accommodation for any longer than is necessary. We continue to work at pace to support Afghan families into homes of their own, so that they can settle into their local communities, feel safe and independent, pursue education, and rebuild their lives in the UK.

The government is providing £285 million of new funding to local authorities supporting the Afghan resettlement schemes. This includes £35 million in new cash for local authorities, which will go towards increasing the level of support available and overcoming key barriers in accessing the housing system and employment and a £250 million expansion of the Local Authority Housing Fund to help councils to source homes to house Afghans currently in bridging accommodation.

This new, generous package of support comes in addition to the existing support available for people on the ACRS and ARAP schemes, including access to welfare and the right to work, as well as access to public services. A dedicated cross-government casework team, made up of Home Office Liaison Officers and DWP staff, are based in hotels and work alongside local authority officials to provide advice to Afghans, including information on how to rent in the private sector, support people find jobs and English language training.

The move from hotels into settled accommodation is in the best interests of families and individuals and will enable them to benefit from the security of housing and long-term consistency of public services. This includes schooling, and the freedoms of independent living that only suitable non-hotel accommodation can provide

Data on the average length of stay in bridging accommodation is not available for publication.

Afghan operational data is released quarterly with the next release due for publication in August 2023.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Thursday 13th July 2023

Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan refugees were living in bridging hotels in July 2023.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The UK has made one of the largest commitments of any country to support those impacted by events in Afghanistan.

The latest Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), published on 25 May 2023, shows that since their first arrivals in 2021, the Afghan schemes – the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) - have resettled a total of 21,004 people.

As of 25 May 2023, we were providing temporary accommodation for around 8,799 individuals resettled in the UK under the ARAP or ACRS, whilst they await permanent accommodation. More information on those that we are temporarily accommodating in hotels can be viewed at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

It is not accurate to describe Afghan families as being ‘held’ in bridging accommodation. They are living there temporarily, and we don’t want to see them in bridging accommodation for any longer than is necessary. We continue to work at pace to support Afghan families into homes of their own, so that they can settle into their local communities, feel safe and independent, pursue education, and rebuild their lives in the UK.

The government is providing £285 million of new funding to local authorities supporting the Afghan resettlement schemes. This includes £35 million in new cash for local authorities, which will go towards increasing the level of support available and overcoming key barriers in accessing the housing system and employment and a £250 million expansion of the Local Authority Housing Fund to help councils to source homes to house Afghans currently in bridging accommodation.

This new, generous package of support comes in addition to the existing support available for people on the ACRS and ARAP schemes, including access to welfare and the right to work, as well as access to public services. A dedicated cross-government casework team, made up of Home Office Liaison Officers and DWP staff, are based in hotels and work alongside local authority officials to provide advice to Afghans, including information on how to rent in the private sector, support people find jobs and English language training.

The move from hotels into settled accommodation is in the best interests of families and individuals and will enable them to benefit from the security of housing and long-term consistency of public services. This includes schooling, and the freedoms of independent living that only suitable non-hotel accommodation can provide

Data on the average length of stay in bridging accommodation is not available for publication.

Afghan operational data is released quarterly with the next release due for publication in August 2023.


Written Question
Afghanistan: Refugees
Wednesday 12th July 2023

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2023 to Question 174212 on Afghanistan: Refugees, if he will provide the figures for (a) April, (b) May and (c) June 2023.

Answered by James Heappey

Since December 2022, as and when relocation to the UK has become possible for ARAP eligible individuals and their families, travel to the UK has been via commercial flights rather than RAF flights. Hence, no RAF flights have flown ARAP EPs from Pakistan to the UK between April 2023 and June 2023.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Thursday 22nd June 2023

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether Afghan refugees who are in hotels can apply for homelessness with any local authority.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

We recognise the work of local authorities up and down the country in providing housing and integration support to enable Afghan families to begin their new lives in the UK. All Afghan arrivals via the ARAP and ACRS schemes have had the right to work and receive benefits from the first day of their arrival, as well as access to public services which includes housing and homelessness assistance.

Under homelessness legislation, the first local authority approached will need to take a homelessness application and assess what duties are owed. The council can then consider if a local connection referral is appropriate. In cases where there is no local connection, but there is a local connection to a different local authority; they may refer the household back to where they do have a local connection.


Written Question
Asylum: LGBT+ People
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to protect overseas families of UK asylum seekers who have fled persecution due to their sexuality.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK is committed to promoting the human rights of LGBT+ people around the world and ensuring that no one faces violence or discrimination for being LGBT+. Our Refugee Family Reunion visa scheme allows eligible family members of those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, including LGBT+ refugees, to reunite with them in the UK. Additionally, through our international programmes and diplomatic engagement, we bring communities and governments together to strengthen rights and freedoms. Since 2018, we have provided over £13.5 million of UK-funded projects to empower and build the capacity of grassroots LGBT+ organisations and human rights defenders worldwide.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Thursday 8th June 2023

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason Afghan refugees are being moved from York.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office currently does not have any Afghan bridging hotels in York.

To help people rebuild their lives here, we have a duty to end the practice of families living in hotels in the UK. This is in the best interests of families and individuals and will enable them to benefit from the security of housing and long-term consistency of public services. This includes schooling, and the freedoms of independent living that only suitable non-hotel accommodation can provide.

Further information about the support that the government has stood-up can be found at New support for Afghans in UK hotels to find settled housing - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)