To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a scheme to enable family members of Sudanese nationals who reside in the UK to come to the UK.
Answered on
9 June 2023
Over 2,000 people have been evacuated to safety in the longest and largest airlift of any western nation during the crisis in Sudan. As well as British nationals, the UK has also evacuated Sudanese clinicians who work in the NHS.
The UK Government is monitoring the situation in Sudan closely to ensure that it is able to respond appropriately. We recognise that some people displaced by the fighting may wish to join family in the UK, and where those family members do not have a current UK visa, they can apply for one via one of our standard visa routes, which remain available, and applications can be submitted at the nearest Visa Application Centre (VAC).
The UK continues to welcome refugees through our existing resettlement schemes which include the global UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement Scheme. While our safe and legal routes are some of the most generous anywhere, we cannot accommodate everyone who wants to come to the UK.