The Afghan Citizens Settlement Scheme

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 12 January 2022.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 2:12, 12 January 2022

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.