Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 6
6
The Government should not consider people evacuated under Operation Pitting under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement...
Recommendation
The Government should not consider people evacuated under Operation Pitting under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), instead it should consider those people under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme (ARAP) or other pre-existing pathways. The ACRS should be reserved for people: • located in Afghanistan; • located in third countries; • who have travelled to the UK, without UK Government assistance, from Afghanistan. (Paragraph 36) Afghanistan: UK support for aid workers and the Afghan people 29
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
As the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated rapidly, the Government worked at pace to evacuate eligible people to the UK. This included Afghans who had been approved for resettlement under ARAP, as well as British Nationals and their eligible family members who had remained in Afghanistan despite our advice to leave, and other vulnerable people at risk. We believe it is right that those we evacuated were offered immediate sanctuary and support in the UK, and so some of these individuals are the first to be resettled under the ACRS. This includes women’s rights activists, journalists, and prosecutors, as well as Afghan families of British Nationals. The Government is opening two further referral pathways under the ACRS. And the ARAP programme remains open and continues to bring eligible individuals and their families to the UK. All those who come to the UK under ARAP and ACRS will have the right to work, access to education and healthcare and be able to apply for public funds. the UK.