The UK has so far resettled 10,538 refugees in the country as part of the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS), reports the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The figures it cited were latest from the UKs Home Office on immigration.
The IOM stressed that the country "is more than halfway towards meeting its commitment to resettle 20,000 people by 2020''.
Over 6,000 resettled in 2017
The VPRS is part of a series of initiatives with which the UK is resettling refugees in the country. In 2017, the IOM said, a total of 6,212 people were resettled in the UK (19% more than in 2016), 4,832 of whom through the VPRS. Another 539 arrived in the country through the Vulnerable Children's Resettlement Scheme (VCRS), which aims to resettle up to 3,000 minors at risk and their families from the Middle East and North Africa by 2020. The total number of minors that the UK has granted asylum or other forms of protection to is at 28,000 since 2010. As part of the resettlement activities, the IOM is facilitating pre-departure healthcare assessments, cultural orientation and refugee trips to the UK and offering support to the national government and local administrations to develop integration programs.
Visit to refugee camps in Lebanon
UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd recently visited a refugee camp in Lebanon, where she met with some families who had fled Syria and spoke to UNHCR officials working with the UK's Home Office to promote the resettlement. "As a country we can be proud that we are over halfway towards honouring our commitment of resettling 20,000 of the most vulnerable refugees who have fled Syria by 2020 so they can rebuild their lives here in safety,'' Rudd was quoted by the IOM as saying. "Nearly half are children and more people are arriving every month". The UK "is welcoming and supporting some of the most vulnerable refugees and I am grateful to all of the local authorities, charities and other organizations that have made it possible,'' she added.