Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 8
8
We welcome the establishment of the Joint Afghanistan Casework Unit but note the lack of...
Recommendation
We welcome the establishment of the Joint Afghanistan Casework Unit but note the lack of clarity around the cost, staffing and current workload of that Unit. We are also concerned that more than three months after it was set up there is still no clarity on whether or not any of the costs of that Unit will be counted as UK ODA expenditure. We recommend that the Government: • establish targets for the performance of the Joint Afghanistan Casework Unit and report quarterly against those targets, publishing that first report by the end of June 2022; • report the number of cases involving people employed as aid workers that the Joint Afghanistan Casework Unit has taken receipt of, and report the status of those cases, by the end of June 2022; and • publish the costs of the Joint Afghanistan Casework Unit it attributes to the ODA budget. (Paragraph 46) Provision of UK aid to Afghanistan
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
As part of HMG’s relocation and resettlement effort, we support those eligible to come to the UK from Afghanistan to do so. The Government has made clear that the initial target of resettling 5000 people during Year 1 of the ACRS will be exceeded, and that the scheme is expected to resettle up to 20000 people in total. The Government will publish statistics on the numbers of people relocated under the ACRS and ARAP in Immigration Statistics. do not collate data on whether people were employed as aid workers. Under the funding arrangements put in place during the crisis, the costs incurred in the financial year 2021/22 by the FCDO’s network of Posts of supporting eligible individuals under the schemes have fallen to the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office, to be reimbursed centrally by the Treasury. For this financial year, 2022/23, these costs will fall to the FCDO and include an ODA element where they meet the OECD DAC Reporting Directives. The level of costs will depend on the number of Afghan citizens supported. Provision of UK aid to Afghanistan