Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data
Updated 23 May 2024
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Operation PITTING, the evacuation of 15,000 people from Afghanistan, took place in August 2021.
Since then, at least 9 government departments have worked together to welcome new arrivals under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
People eligible for resettlement continue to arrive in the UK, and those temporarily accommodated in hotels continue to move into settled accommodation.
Statistics on individuals resettled or relocated under the Afghan schemes is available in the Immigration System Statistics release. For a summary of the data, see the resettlement section of the ‘Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to the UK’ chapter; for detailed data, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement datasets. For data on those in accommodation by location, see the regional and local authority immigration groups data tables.
The information presented in this factsheet combines the data published in the Immigration System Statistics release with further operational information recorded locally by resettlement teams. All data on Afghan resettlement should be considered provisional and is subject to change whilst work continues to ensure information relating to all these individuals are recorded on caseworking systems.
The following is the best available operational data, as of 31st March 2024.
Arrivals in the UK from Afghanistan
Data published in the Immigration System Statistics release show a total of 27,182 individuals under the Afghan ARAP and ACRS schemes (see next section for further details on scheme breakdowns). This number differs from the total number of arrivals following the evacuation from Afghanistan, as not all those evacuated required resettlement (e.g. British citizens or those with settled status). The total number of arrivals up to the end of March is around 30,100. The table below shows the total arrivals split by whether individuals arrived before, during or after Operation Pitting.
| Date | Arrivals | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before Operation PITTING | Around 2,000 | All being relocated under ARAP | |
| During Operation PITTING | Around 15,000 | Some evacuees are British Nationals, who do not require a grant of leave, to stay in the UK | |
| After Operation PITTING | Around 10,000 | ARAP and ACRS Pathways. |
Grants of indefinite leave to remain
The number of grants of indefinite leave to remain for individuals resettled are not published as part of the regular resettlement statistics in the Immigration Systems Statistics release; this information is therefore provided here.
We have granted Indefinite Leave to Remain to 12,874 individuals across ARAP and ACRS, of which:
- total ARAP grants: 6,405
- total ACRS Pathway 1 grants: 6,469
The data published in the Immigration System Statistics release gives the number of individuals under the schemes as follows:
- ARAP: 15,592
- ACRS Pathway 1: 9,703
- ACRS Pathway 2: 663
- ACRS Pathway 3: 1,207
- Afghan route not recorded: 17
The scheme breakdowns published in the Immigration System Statistics do not align with the numbers shown above for grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain by scheme. This is because the scheme groupings for the Immigration System Statistics are based on a wider range of data which indicate which scheme individuals falls under (including, but not limited to, grants of leave). In addition, some individuals will have arrived with Indefinite leave to enter and will not need to apply for an in country grant of Indefinite leave to remain.
Interim accommodation
As of 31 August 2023 the Home Office had ended its bridging contracts with all bridging hotels and serviced accommodation sites. For more information, see Afghan bridging hotel exit operational data.
As set out by the Minister for Veterans Affairs in a statement to Parliament on 18 July 2023 the Home Office would continue to provide interim accommodation to legally resettled Afghans up to 31 December 2023 if they met one of two criteria: either where they needed accommodation during the short period between the end of their notice period and the date on which their settled accommodation was ready for them to move into; or in cases of medical need where a family member required continued attendance at a specific hospital.
74 people, over half of whom are children, were living in interim accommodation (hotels or serviced accommodation) at the end of March 2024.
Transitional accommodation
We are committed to bringing eligible persons under the ACRS to the UK as fast as possible. Families manifested on flights have been pre-matched into settled accommodation where possible, but for a small number of this cohort transitional accommodation will be required. 3,584 people, around half of whom are children, were being accommodated in transitional accommodation at the end of March 2024 pending their move to settled accommodation. Of which 677 were accommodated within Home Office transitional accommodation and 2,907 within MOD transitional accommodation.
For more information on individuals within interim accommodation, including nationality, age and sex breakdowns, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. For data on those in accommodation by location, see the regional and local authority immigration groups data tables.
Settled accommodation
As of the end of March 2024 20,301 people had moved into a home. A small number of these individuals may be supported by LAs in temporary accommodation under local authority homelessness duties, before moving to settled accommodation. A further 285 people had been matched to a home and were waiting to move in. This does not include families who made their own accommodation arrangements. Of the 20,301 in homes, 3,244 are settled in Private Rented Sector housing. Of these 1,991 receive integration support, whilst 1,253 are unsupported.
For more information on individuals in settled accommodation, including nationality, age and sex breakdowns, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. For data on those in accommodation by location, see the regional and local authority immigration groups data tables.
Refused offers of accommodation
On 2 May 2023, following the hotel closures announcement, the Home Office introduced a new one offer accommodation matching process. Under the new process, households will be made only one offer of suitable accommodation and if they choose to reject it, will be required to make their own accommodation arrangements. Households are supported in their decision making and encouraged actively to accept the offer by the HOLOs and local authority staff in their bridging accommodation.
Between May 2023 and August 2023, 83 households refused accommodation offers. This is in addition to the 317 accommodation offers refused under the previous process. Following the hotel closures in August 2023, for those residing within Transitional Accommodation, 6 ARAP households have refused an allocation of accommodation and 1 ACRS household has refused an allocation of accommodation.
Families have given varied reasons for refusing accommodation. Some have been offered jobs or have other ties to certain areas, others are concerned about moving to an unfamiliar area, that they perceive to be remote or with limited access to services, amenities and job opportunities.