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<p>When we launched the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme from January
2014, we wrote to local authorities to invite them to participate. As the scheme has
progressed, we have continued to engage closely with local authorities who have expressed
an interest in participation. Following the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) pledging conference in Geneva on 9 December 2014, a number of additional local
authorities have also expressed an interest, and we are in discussions with them.
We are grateful to the local authorities who are supporting the scheme, and we remain
confident that we can continue to meet the needs of arrivals in the UK under the scheme
as planned. We expect the scheme to help several hundred Syrians over three years,
and we welcome further offers of support from local authorities as the scheme progresses.</p><p>With
millions of Syrians displaced by the conflict, the Government strongly believes that
the UK can have the greatest impact and help the most people in need through humanitarian
aid in the region and actively seeking an end to the crisis. We have committed £700
million in response to the humanitarian crisis, making the UK the second largest bilateral
donor after the USA, and this funding is helping to support hundred of thousands of
people. Compared with aid, resettlement can only ever help a minority of those in
need. However, we recognise that some very vulnerable people cannot be supported effectively
in the region, and we launched the VPR scheme to complement our aid by offering protection
in the UK to particularly vulnerable individuals and their families, prioritising
women and children at risk, those in need of medical care and survivors of violence
and torture. Potential beneficiaries of the scheme are identified and referred to
us by UNHCR on this basis. The VPR scheme is therefore based on need rather than fulfilling
a quota. However, it was necessary for planning purposes to estimate the scale of
potential arrivals under the scheme, bearing in mind the purpose of the scheme, UNHCR’s
capacity and the need to have suitable care and support in place for these very vulnerable
individuals as soon as they arrive in the UK.</p><p>We believe that substantial aid,
actively seeking an end to the crisis and providing protection for some of the most
vulnerable people are the most effective ways for the UK to help those displaced by
the crisis and their host countries, rather than larger scale resettlement. We therefore
have no current plans to expand the VPR scheme, and we made our position clear at
the UNHCR pledging conference on 9 December. However, we continue to monitor the situation
in Syria and the surrounding region and work closely with UNHCR to identify the most
vulnerable people displaced by the conflict to ensure that the scheme remains appropriate.</p><p>
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