As part of the Government’s scheme to welcome up to 5,000 vulnerable Afghans to the UK in its first year with up to a total of 20,000 in the long-term; Norfolk County Council will work closely with the Government and partners to ensure that Norfolk accommodates a share of these refugees.
The council will be ensuring new arrivals get the support they need to settle into their new communities as well as taking into account pressures from other existing schemes. Details of the Afghan resettlement scheme are now available.
Norfolk has a proud record of offering support to refugees. Along with our supporting city, district and borough councils, Norfolk was among the first localities to offer to support the resettlement of Afghan nationals under the government’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), launched on 1 April this year, and a number of Afghan nationals are already receiving support right here in the county.
The Council already assisted over 150 Syrian refugees to successfully settle in Norfolk since 2017 and will use the skills and experience this provided to make the transition for arriving Afghan nationals as smooth as possible.
Norfolk County Council will also continue its work with unaccompanied child asylum seekers, which was praised recently by Vicky Ford, the Minister for Children, who visited Norwich earlier this month to learn more. She highlighted the ‘moral leadership’ of the council in this area.