Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Joint Committee

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:05 pm on 15 September 2021.

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Photo of James Cleverly James Cleverly Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) 5:05, 15 September 2021

I thank Lisa Nandy for calling today’s debate on an incredibly important issue.

In response to the crisis in Afghanistan, we have delivered the largest and most complex evacuation in living memory. In the space of just two weeks, we evacuated around 8,000 British nationals, around 5,000 Afghans under the ARAP scheme, and around 500 Afghan special cases, including judges, Chevening scholars, journalists and women’s rights activists. That is in addition to the 1,978 Afghans evacuated through the ARAP scheme between April, when we started the scheme, and the end of August.