The UK Government continues to monitor the return of Afghans from Pakistan, recognising that every country has the sovereign right to manage their borders. The Foreign Secretary met with Pakistan's Caretaker Foreign Minister on 30 November 2023 and received assurances towards the safety of Afghans who are eligible for UK resettlement under the ARAP and ACRS schemes. We are working with the UN Refugee Agency to ensure Pakistan adheres to its international human rights obligations. Since September, we have committed £18.5 million to the International Organisation for Migration in Afghanistan to support undocumented returnees.

The FCDO holds data on how much aid we have provided for Afghanistan and our commitment to ensure that at least 50 per cent of those reached with our aid are women and girls. The FCDO does not hold the breakdown of how much UK aid has been allocated specifically to women-led organisations based in Afghanistan. We have not withheld information on funding allocations. The department is confident that the answer provided to PQ 1578 adequately meets the guidelines laid down by the Leader of the Commons in the Guide to Parliamentary Work.

The FCDO attaches great importance to the effective handling of Written Parliamentary Questions (WPQs) and recognises the importance of Parliamentary scrutiny.

As of 12 December, the number of eligible persons in Pakistan who qualified via Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy was 232 principals and 1,147 dependents and the number of eligible persons who qualified via Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 3 was 178 principals and 724 dependents.

FCDO officials regularly meet Taliban representatives to support HMG objectives on Afghanistan. This includes pressing on human rights, including the rights of women and girls and minorities. We are clear that Afghanistan needs more inclusive governance that is representative of its citizens. We have therefore encouraged the Taliban to engage with a diverse range of Afghans, particularly women and civil society representatives, and listen to their views. Ministers and officials also engage with other Afghans, based in the UK and elsewhere, including human rights activists and non-Taliban political figures.

In Pakistan we are working with the UN Refugee Agency to ensure Pakistan, which has a long history of hosting vulnerable refugees, adheres to its international human rights obligations. In Afghanistan, there has been a significant scale up in the provision of emergency assistance to returnees at the border and we are following the humanitarian and human rights implications closely, including the work of the Taliban Refugee Commission to aid the resettlement of people returning. Since September, we have committed £18.5 million to the International Organisation for Migration in Afghanistan to support vulnerable undocumented people returning from Pakistan and Iran.

UK ministers and officials engage regularly with a range of Afghan civil society organisations. This includes engagement with Afghan women's organisations, both in Afghanistan and in the UK and diaspora. For example, officials regularly engage with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afghan Women and Girls led by Wendy Chamberlain MP and the Afghan Women Support Forum, established by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger. Both these forums comprise Afghan women activists including civil society representatives from Afghanistan and in the UK.

The UK is committed to supporting the continuation of vital health services in Afghanistan. Our focus is on the delivery of essential primary health care and maternal and child health, specifically targeted at women and children.

In our engagement with the Taliban, we continue to advocate for the importance of women and girls receiving the education they need so that Afghanistan has the trained female medical staff that are required to deliver vital health services.

Any Afghan medical students wishing to study in the UK would need to apply to individual medical schools and meet their entry requirements, as well as meeting any UK immigration requirements.

The FCDO has provided £3 million to people affected by the recent earthquake in Herat. In line with established humanitarian principles, no direct data on religious affiliation is collected as part of these responses. Assistance is provided impartially on the basis of detailed assessments to identify the worst affected populations. Our partners have not reported any restrictions on their access to affected populations following the earthquake. We are committed to ensuring human rights are respected in Afghanistan, including those of vulnerable minority communities.

UK funded prepositioned supplies supported humanitarian partners in the immediate aftermath of the October earthquake. An additional £1 million was allocated to the Red Cross and £1 million to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF) to help meet emergency needs. A further £1 million has been allocated to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to provide targeted support to affected women and girls. This support ensured affected communities received emergency shelter, food and health assistance. Overall, $10 million has been allocated from the AHF and a $5 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, which the UK supports.

The Department, including the Foreign Secretary and the British High Commissioner to Islamabad, has made such representations, and will continue to do so. We have received assurances from the Government of Pakistan that Afghans being supported in Pakistan under the Afghans Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will remain safe in Pakistan while they await relocation to the UK. An MOD-led operation has relocated over 1,500 ARAP-eligible Afghans to the UK since September.

The UK Government continues to monitor the return of Afghans from Pakistan, including the humanitarian and human rights implications. We are working closely with Pakistan, the United Nations and other international partners to support vulnerable undocumented people returning to Afghanistan. Pakistan has a long history of welcoming vulnerable refugees and we urge them to respect the human rights of all Afghans in Pakistan. Since September, we have committed £18.5 million to the International Organisation for Migration in Afghanistan to support those returning from Pakistan and Iran.

UK funded prepositioned supplies supported humanitarian partners in the immediate aftermath of the October earthquake. An additional £1 million was allocated to the Red Cross and £1 million to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF) to help meet emergency needs. A further £1 million has been allocated to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to provide targeted support to affected women and girls. This support ensured affected communities received emergency shelter, food and health assistance. Overall, $10 million has been allocated from the AHF and $5 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, which the UK supports.

The UK Government is committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is one of FCDO's largest bilateral aid programmes this financial year, at £100 million. Since April 2021, the UK has disbursed over £600 million in aid for Afghanistan, providing lifesaving support to the most vulnerable. The UK has recently launched two multi-year humanitarian programmes from 2023 - 2026, through which we will spend up to £400 million through UN agencies, the Red Cross and NGOs. The UK is also funding NGOs through our Supporting Afghanistan's Basic Services programme. We continue to support the World Bank's Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund.

The FCDO is committed to supporting Afghanistan's citizens, including helping them respond to the recent earthquake. We provided an additional £1 million to Red Cross and the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund to provide emergency shelter, food and health assistance. The UK has been instrumental in unlocking over $1 billion through the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund and we continue to work with the World Bank to deliver support at scale in health, food security and community resilience in the earthquake affected areas.

In 2023/24, we are providing the World Food Programme with over £30 million to deliver humanitarian assistance, including prepositioning essential winter food supplies in hard-to-reach areas.

As the Development White Paper highlights, the UK Government prioritises humanitarian assistance to people in greatest need. On Monday the UK hosted the Global Food Security Summit, announcing up to £100 million in new humanitarian funding to countries worst hit by food insecurity, including Afghanistan. We continue to monitor the food security situation in Afghanistan, including analysing Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) data and other assessments and evidence, and use these to inform portfolio planning. In recognition of the needs in Afghanistan this year, we provided the World Food Programme with over £30 million for emergency food, cash and nutrition assistance.

Following the first earthquake on 7 October, FCDO quickly allocated £1 million to the Red Cross to help meet emergency needs, and a further £1 million to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF) in response to further shocks. This support will ensure affected communities receive emergency shelter, food and health assistance. Overall, $10 million has been allocated from the AHF and a further $5 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, which the UK supports. We continue to monitor the situation closely.

Afghanistan is one of FCDO's largest bilateral aid programmes this financial year, with a planned £100 million budget. Since April 2021, the UK has disbursed over £600 million in aid for Afghanistan. We remain committed to ensuring that at least 50 per cent of people reached are women and girls. We achieved this in 2021-2022 and are on track to do so in 2022-2023. Through the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund, our support contributes to a $20 million project to support civil society and NGOs with a focus on women-led organisations. FCDO officials regularly engage with Afghan women and women's groups to ensure that we are aligned in the design and delivery of our programmes.

UK funding is provided directly to implementing partners: UN organisations, the Red Cross, and national and international non-governmental organisations. We do not provide any aid to or through the Taliban. UK aid is subject to strict monitoring and verification to ensure it reaches intended beneficiaries. Our partners are experienced in delivering in difficult circumstances and we work closely together to mitigate risks. We remain committed to ensuring that at least 50 per cent of people reached with UK aid in Afghanistan are women and girls. We achieved this in 2021-2022 and are on track to do so in 2022-2023.

Under the first stage of ACRS Pathway 3, the FCDO have made assessments against the eligibility criteria as set out on gov.uk. In a small number of cases where an individual has been assessed as eligible in principle for resettlement, eligibility has subsequently been withdrawn. This is where we have received additional information, either from the individual or in the case of British Council or Gardaworld contractors from their relevant employer and the FCDO has assessed that the individual no longer meets the eligibility criteria or did not meet them in the first instance.

We will provide more detail on ACRS Pathway 3 numbers once we have completed processing all expressions of interest and have assured data.

We have committed £16 million since September to the International Organisation for Migration in Afghanistan to support vulnerable undocumented people returning from Pakistan and Iran. Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have not reported any substantial cross-border movement following Pakistan's decision. We continue to monitor the situation for increased movement over the borders with Afghanistan, and for any indication others may also look to repatriate Afghans residing in Central Asia.