Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, the PM confirmed the UK had reached the milestone and stressed that the government would continue its focus on resettling those in the region who are most at risk.
By hitting the target, the government has shown it is well on track to resettle up to 20,000 Syrians through the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) Scheme over the next five years.
Prime Minister David Cameron said:
“I made a promise that we would resettle a thousand Syrians by Christmas and I can confirm today that we have met our commitment. The charter flights that arrived yesterday at Stansted and Belfast mean that over a thousand have been settled and another flight is coming today.
“The government has provided funding so that all these refugees get housing, healthcare, education and I want to thank all the local authorities and all those who have worked so hard.
“I said that Britain would do its duty and with these thousand we’ve made a very good start.”
Groups of refugees have been arriving in the UK over the last three months as part of a carefully co-ordinated, staggered approach.
The most recent charter flights arrived yesterday at Stansted and Belfast – with another arriving today.
More than 50 Local Authorities from across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have taken a share of the 1,000 refugees resettled, showing that this country is again acting in the finest traditions of providing shelter to the most vulnerable.
Alongside the help we are providing through our VPR scheme, the UK has also granted asylum or another form of protection through normal processes to 1,868 Syrians in the year ending September 2015.
The VPR scheme is just one part of the government’s comprehensive approach to the Syrian crisis, which has seen the UK become the second biggest bilateral aid donor with £1.1 billion in aid pledged to date.
In addition, the Royal Navy has saved over 8,000 lives so far in the Mediterranean and is working with partners to tackle and smash the evil people smuggling gangs.
And at the Valletta Summit last month the PM announced a £200m package of support for Africa and £275m of support to Turkey to help it cope with the scale of the crisis.
>1,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees resettled through the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme
>PM announced in September that scheme would be expanded to take up to 20,000 vulnerable Syrians over next five yearsPart of UK’s comprehensive strategy to addressing the Syrian crisis, including committing over £1.1 billion in aid to the region
>The Prime Minister has announced today that the UK has delivered on its promise of resettling 1,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees by Christmas.
