4. What discussions has the Minister had with the UK Government regarding the Afghan citizens settlement scheme? OQ57427

We regularly raise the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme with the UK Government and, since the scheme was announced, I've taken part in several four-nation ministerial calls, with the latest taking place yesterday, and I've raised issues from gaps in eligibility to the slow pace of developments.

Diolch, Minister. We know that the physical evaluation of an individual is critical to an individual’s needs, but it is just the beginning of a person’s journey to being settled and secure in a new country. As a nation of sanctuary, I know that in Wales we pride ourselves on offering the support necessary to make sure that people can rebuild their lives and integrate with their communities. Can the Minister outline what ongoing support, therefore, we are offering, as a Government and with our local authority partners, to ensure that those who have been resettled can access all the services that they require?

I thank Rhianon Passmore for this very important and timely question. Particularly, I'm fortunate that I met with the Minister Victoria Atkins yesterday. Anyone who’s resettled or dispersed to Wales will be supported as far as we’re able, as a nation of sanctuary, as you said, and it is with our partners, as a result of our partnership with local government, the team Wales multi-agency approach, and indeed with our armed services as well, and the Urdd being a key partner, we've supported over 350 Afghan individuals since August, since the evacuation. We have ensured that there’s a holistic assessment of the needs of new arrivals and access to education, healthcare, support in finding employment. But also, interestingly, we developed a peer support group for Afghan families who’ve settled in Wales already, and many will be in your constituencies, drawing on the successful advocacy forum model, and that's delivered as part of the asylum rights project, which Welsh Government funds. This does help Afghan families to connect with each other and support each other to settle in Wales. I did raise issues yesterday with the Minister relating to the biometric residence permits, which are crucial for Afghan citizens to access bank accounts, and other issues following her statement last week.

Can I just at this point, Llywydd, pay tribute to our former colleague Jack Dromey MP, who sadly passed away last week? The day before he passed away, Jack raised our shared concerns that the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme was failing to prioritise the reunion of those at risk in Afghanistan with family who may live in the UK. I do want to just pay tribute to what he did in his political life and, of course, give all of our sympathies to his family and to Harriet Harman, of course, his wife. But what he said—and I think it's relevant to this—he said:

'Our country has a proud history of providing a safe haven to those fleeing persecution. Any watering down of the resettlement scheme would be contrary to our most fundamental values of decency, honesty and fairness.'

Minister, the Afghan citizen resettlement scheme will provide up to 20,000 Afghan women, children and others most at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. It will build on the UK's continuing efforts to support those at-risk Afghan citizens, prioritising those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for our values, and those extremely vulnerable people, such as women and girls at risk and members of minority groups.

I know that you stand for this very strongly and I agree with you that Wales needs to play its part in this operation to help these people secure permanent homes and rebuild their lives in the UK, and I know that you have mentioned on a few occasions that Wales is a nation of sanctuary. So, can I ask, Minister, what discussions have you had—I know you mentioned this in an earlier response to my learned colleague Rhianon Passmore—what conversations specifically have you had with ministerial colleagues, your partners in local government, the private sector and voluntary sector to overcome the hurdles you mentioned in your response previously to Rhianon, to ensure that those coming to Wales obtain the housing, education, training and employment opportunities they need to allow them to rebuild their lives, and to repay the debt that we owe them?

You also mentioned the Afghan resettlement fund. Can you please elaborate on what key performance indicators are going to be in place to ensure they actually will prove to be helpful to those wishing to resettle? Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, Natasha Asghar. I confirm that I met with Victoria Atkins, the Minister for Afghan Resettlement, yesterday. In fact, I met her with the First Minister for Northern Ireland, and she was meeting Scottish colleagues as well. We're going to have a regular dialogue. She made that statement only last week, in terms of the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, and I've already commented on some of the concerns that I raised with her yesterday, much of which lies with the UK Government. Our authorities, in terms of devolved services, we are already engaged with them. In fact, Victoria Atkins is due to come and visit Wales to look at some of our bridging accommodation, and I will be meeting her with the lead cabinet member of the Welsh Local Government Association as well. This is an area where I raised particular issues in terms of accessing employment opportunities, which are crucial. I've mentioned the biometric residence permits as one key point. We did get some progress yesterday in terms of updating information that was coming through, but I would like to say that we do remain very concerned about delays in helping the at-risk individuals find sanctuary.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees referral pathways are not open until the spring. That means at-risk individuals who have been forced to flee may never find their way through this route. This is the key route in to the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, and I think there is a great deal to do. They're not fast-tracking, they're not looking sympathetically at cases of all Afghan asylum seekers already living in the UK. That is illogical and it exacerbates pressure on the asylum system. I do have to say that there's a fundamental inconsistency at the heart of the Nationality and Borders Bill, which says that an Afghan brought to the UK under the resettlement scheme will be well supported, but the same Afghan citizen would not be able to avail themselves of either the ACRS, the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, or the Afghan relocations and assistance policy. They could then, under the Nationality and Borders Bill, be criminalised and not adequately supported. So, I hope we can work on a cross-party basis to address some of these concerns and issues as this scheme unfolds.