Royal Air Force evacuates Afghan citizens in first Voyager flight in more than a year
An RAF Voyager aircraft has carried out an evacuation flight for Afghan citizens under the UK's relocation scheme - the first such operation in more than a year.
Voyager is the RAF’s sole air-to-air refuelling tanker, but it can also operate as a passenger aircraft in much the same way as a civilian airliner, with the aircraft flying out of Pakistan.
Armed Forces Minister James Heappy said the Government was "aiming to relocate 2,800 ARAP-eligible people from Pakistan between October 2023 and the end of 2023".
Mr Heappey said the Government was "on target to deliver this commitment, with over 2,000 having arrived so far".
As well as the Voyager flight this month, which was the first since November 2022, there was also one civilian charter flight, with five more last month and one in October.
"More flights are scheduled throughout the remainder of December," Mr Heappey added.
His response followed a written question by shadow defence secretary John Healey about how many people were being brought to the UK as part of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
Mr Healey also asked how many ARAP applicants were awaiting a decision about their potential relocation.
Mr Heappey said "around 2,000… principal applicants are awaiting an eligibility decision".
"A large percentage of the remaining 2,000 are new applications to the scheme, which is still open," he explained.
Mr Heappey also said he had made a commitment to clear the backlog of applications by August 2023, which resulted in the Ministry of Defence issuing "decisions on over 75,000 applications" between January and November this year.
The news comes after Veterans Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer said a "small number" of hotels would still be used as transitional accommodation for Afghans being brought to the UK for resettlement.
In a statement in the Commons, Mr Mercer said the UK would "welcome 250 arrivals from Pakistan with a further flight" this week.
"Seventy percent of families manifested on these flights have already been pre-matched into settled accommodation," he said.
"But for a small number of this cohort transitional accommodation will be required.
"The Government remains committed to ending the systemic use of hotels and does not plan to open new hotels to meet this increased demand."
He did say, however, that a small number of hotels would have their contracts extended to help Afghan arrivals who had not been "matched to settled housing solutions in the United Kingdom".
Mr Healey also asked how many Afghans eligible for ARAP were in Pakistan, awaiting evacuation or a decision on their eligibility.
Leo Docherty, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Europe), said there were "232 principals and 1,147 dependents" in Pakistan, with "the number of eligible persons who qualified via Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 3 was 178 principals and 724 dependents".
Pakistan has become a route out of Afghanistan for those who assisted British Forces in the country but have not yet been evacuated and fear retribution from the Taliban.
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