Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme
Objectives of the service provided by BRASS
The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (SVPRS) is a United Nations programme, administered in the UK by the Home Office. The scheme is intended to resettle families who are refugees from the Syrian conflict, including Syrians and other nationalities. Under this scheme, Bedford Borough Council has agreed to accept and resettle 20 such families. BRASS works with the Borough Council to implement the scheme. The general and primary objective of BRASS is to enable these families to integrate themselves into the social, economic and cultural life of Bedford.
Among our specific objectives are the following:
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to ensure, in co-operation with the housing team at Bedford Borough Council, that the families receive appropriate, accessible and affordable accommodation within the Borough area
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to ensure, especially in their first year in the United Kingdom, that they receive and take up opportunities to become proficient in the English language
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to ensure that they have access to healthcare including dental care
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to ensure that the children of school age have access to education
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to ensure that all family members have access to safeguarding where necessary
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and most importantly, to encourage the families ultimately to be economically and socially independent in the United Kingdom.
To achieve these objectives, we work closely with Bedford Borough Council, the Department of Work and Pensions, and other service providers including hospitals, medical and dental practices, schools, banks and building societies, charities and other refugee support organizations.
The global picture
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), since the start of the Syrian civil war 5.6 million persons who were formerly residents of Syria have become refugees. Of these, 3.5 million are registered in Turkey. and 2 million are in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon..
The national picture
On 7 September 2015 the British Prime Minister announced a significant expansion of the Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme, with a view to resettling up to 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK by May 2020. The scheme is intended mainly to resettle refugees who were previously living in camps in countries neighbouring Syria, principally Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
From 2014Q1 to 2018Q3, 27,922 Syrians were resettled in the UK under the SVPRS, of whom 13,960 were children. In addition, in the same period 2,150 Syrians were resettled in the UK under the Vulnerable Children Resettlement Scheme (VCRS), of whom 1,226 were children.[1]
Outside the SVPRS and the VCRS, from 2011Q1 to 2018Q3, 11,962 Syrians and their dependents made independent applications for asylum in the UK, of whom 9,143 were accepted.[2]
[1] Source: : UK Home Office, Immigration Statistics, Year ending September 2018, Table as_19_q: Refugees (and others) resettled, including dependants, by country of nationality https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018-data-tables
[2] Source: UK Home Office, Immigration Statistics, Year ending September 2018, Table as_02_q: Asylum applications and initial decisions for main applicants and dependants, by country of nationality https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018-data-tables
