The UK continues to be able to support the delivery of public services in Afghanistan, despite the challenging context. Through our Supporting Afghanistan's Basic Services programme, our NGO partners have delivered services in health, education and livelihoods. Through the World Bank's Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund (ARTF), the FCDO contributed to supporting 135,680 children (92,262 girls) to access education between September 2022 and May 2023. We work with key international partners to understand the status of the delivery of public services, for example through the World Bank's regular economic monitoring and welfare surveys.

The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) has been designed to support those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values, as well as vulnerable people, including members of minority groups at risk.

Under Pathway 3, in the first year, places are being offered to eligible at-risk British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors, and Chevening alumni in Afghanistan or the region, and their dependents.

The FCDO is working hard across Government to progress referrals under Pathway 3. They received over 11,400 expressions of interest, which they have been assessing against the eligibility criteria. Any offer of resettlement will be subject to security screening and provision of biometric information.

The FCDO are notifying those who have completed initial security checks and providing advice on next steps. Some eligible individuals and their families have already arrived in third countries, where they are offered accommodation and support from the International Organisation for Migration. We look forward to welcoming the first arrivals to the UK under Pathway 3 as soon as practicable.

Further details on the eligibility criteria for the ACRS and how vulnerability is taken into consideration has been set out in the policy statement:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement.

The UK has been instrumental in unlocking more than $1billion of funds held within the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). Following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the ARTF has provided grants to United Nations agencies to support agriculture, education, health, and livelihoods activities. ARTF expenditure does not involve the interim Taliban administration and does not go through their ministries. All funding is subject to strict monitoring and verification to minimise fiduciary risks.

The UK is providing life-saving aid to the most vulnerable Afghans. Since April 2021, the UK has disbursed £515 million to help urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. We have disbursed £229 million in aid for Afghanistan since April 2022, including payments to the UN Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (£50 million), World Food Programme (£95 million) and UNICEF (£28 million). A further £17 million is due for disbursal in March 2023.

We are supporting 4 million people with food assistance through the World Food Programme this financial year (FY22/23) and continue to support basic services, such as health, education and livelihoods.

Afghanistan continues to face a serious and worsening humanitarian crisis. The Foreign Secretary has committed a further £286 million for Afghanistan which reflects the UK's enduring commitment to the people of Afghanistan and follows the full dispersal of our £286 million commitment in 2021/22 to humanitarian partners. Our aid is vital and will provide life-saving support to the most vulnerable, especially women and girls and minority groups. We are also funding child protection support and supporting access to gender-based violence services. The Foreign Secretary has committed to prioritising funding for women and girls.

The UK is providing £2.5 million to help give immediate life-saving support to people in Afghanistan affected by the earthquake on Wednesday 22 June. £2 million will go to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) Cross to provide shelter, healthcare, water and sanitation. The IFRC is already working on the ground to respond and help address the urgent humanitarian needs - including in Khost and Paktika, the two provinces most heavily impacted. A further £500,000 will go to the Norwegian Refugee Council to provide shelter and cash assistance to those affected. UK supported international partners, co-ordinated by the United Nations, are delivering assistance and assessing ongoing humanitarian needs. The UK is in direct contact with them to offer assistance and stands ready to consider any requests for aid or support. UK funding is channelled through UN partners and NGOs and no funding goes to or through the Taliban.

If an Afghan national holds a valid visa, or permission to stay, and is able to travel safely they will be able to return to the UK during the period covered by their visa.

If they have not yet travelled, they can reapply for a visa vignette, and will be able to make a further application in the UK on return on a route for which they meet the requirements, and which permits them to switch.

As a result of the current political and security situation in Afghanistan, the British Embassy in Kabul has suspended in-country operations and cannot issue or deliver emergency travel documents to British nationals. Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) are currently unable to offer passport services to British nationals in Afghanistan. The FCDO will continue to discuss with Her Majesty's Passport Office how to support vulnerable British nationals secure an emergency travel document or replacement British passport in Afghanistan as the situation on the ground develops and options become available.

Through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), the UK will relocate up to 20,000 people at risk, including women and girls and minority groups, so they can rebuild their lives in safety.

The scheme is not yet open. However, the first to be resettled through this scheme will be those who arrived in the UK under the evacuation programme, which included individuals who were considered to be at particular risk – including women’s rights activists, prosecutors and journalists.

We are working urgently to open the scheme, amid the complex and changing picture. We are working closely across government and with NGOs, charities, local authorities and civil society groups to ensure support is provided to people who are resettled through this route.

Further information on the eligibility, prioritisation and referral of people for the ACRS is set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September, available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement.

FCDO Travel Advice for Afghanistan is regularly updated to keep British nationals informed of developments. There continue to be very limited medical facilities available in Afghanistan and access is likely to be greatly reduced due to the deteriorating situation. Work continues to explore all possible avenues to ensure that any British nationals who remain in Afghanistan are able to leave safely if they wish to do so. We have asked all British nationals in Afghanistan to register their presence with us and we are working to verify all those who have submitted their details.

The 'caretaker' appointments announced by the Taliban on 7 September did not reflect the diversity of the country's regions and communities, or women. We call on the Taliban to pursue inclusive politics and an inclusive society. Our approach to the Taliban will be shaped by what they now do. We have made clear to the Taliban our expectations in areas such as counter-terrorism, humanitarian access, and human rights, and are working with our partners in order to seek to exercise a moderating influence on the Taliban where we can.

We stand with the people of Afghanistan to support a more stable, peaceful future for the country. Following our announcement of 18 August, total UK aid to Afghanistan this year is now £286 million, one of our largest bilateral programmes. As part of this, on 3 September we announced £30 million of life-saving aid to Afghanistan's neighbouring countries to help those who choose to leave Afghanistan as part of the Government's efforts to support regional stability. £10 million will be made available immediately to humanitarian partners, such as the UNHCR, to enable essential supplies such as shelters to be despatched to the Afghan borders as well as setting up sanitation and hygiene facilities. A further £20 million will be allocated to countries that experience a significant increase in refugees to support reception and registration facilities and provide essential services and supplies.

The UK is firmly committed to Afghanistan and we are supporting efforts to combat the pandemic in Afghanistan through our contributions to COVAX, the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) and through our humanitarian assistance. As one of the largest contributors to COVAX, UK support has helped to secure 468,000 initial doses of SII-AstraZeneca (COVISHIELD) vaccine. Through the ARTF the UK has also provided over £65 million to support the government's COVID-19 plan. In the year 2020-21, the UK allocated over £55 million to meet urgent humanitarian needs including those arising from COVID-19.

The Government is strongly committed to fulfilling its responsibilities to current and former locally employed staff in Afghanistan. That is why we developed a new Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which launched on 1 April 2021. It acknowledges and reflects the fact that the situation in Afghanistan has changed, and with it the potential risk to current and former Locally Employed Staff who worked for the UK Government over the past twenty years.

Under the new scheme, any current or former Locally Employed Staff who are assessed to be under serious threat [to life] will be offered priority relocation to the UK regardless of their employment status, rank or role, or length of time served. And local staff who have worked in roles which could have exposed their identities and placed them at risk of reprisals will be relocated to the UK by default.

The Defence Secretary is working with the Home Secretary as part of a cross Government effort, at pace, to make sure that those who have served alongside us in Afghanistan are looked after in the future. An announcement will be made shortly.

The Department currently has no plans to conduct an inquiry into the causes and effects of the Afghanistan operation. Following the conclusion of Operation Herrick in 2014, the Army conducted a thorough internal review. We remain focused on supporting the Government of Afghanistan as part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission.

The Department currently has no plans to conduct an inquiry into the causes and effects of the Afghanistan operation. Following the conclusion of Operation Herrick in 2014, the Army conducted a thorough internal review. We remain focused on supporting the Government of Afghanistan as part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission.

We condemn the improper removal of objects from historical sites. Such a case was brought to our attention in 2013 and UK officials raised the issue with the US Department of Defense at the time. The UK has since commenced collaboration with the US on Cultural Property Protection training.

​We are aware of reports of Afghan refugees and child soldiers being recruited for deployment in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, but the detail is difficult to verify given the environment on the ground. The UK is committed to ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers and protecting children affected by armed conflict.