[Afghan resettlement scheme still not up and running four months after fall of Kabul, says Refugee Council]
Four months since the fall
of Kabul to the Taliban in August, causing mass displacement of
hundreds of thousands, the government’s Afghan citizens resettlement scheme was
not yet up and running, the charity said.
Official data showed asylum
applications from Afghanistan to
the UK tripled from 435 between April and June to 1,093 between July and
September, it added.
The UK government had committed to
bringing another 5,000 Afghans to the UK this year and a further 15,000 in
future as part of the resettlement scheme, the charity said, calling for its
urgent implementation.
It also called for an expansion of
the family reunion rules so relatives were not torn apart and the
prioritisation of all asylum cases from Afghanistan, with Home Office data
showing more than 4,000 Afghans are awaiting a decision on their asylum claims,
with nearly 2,500 waiting more than six months.
The charity said it wanted a
rethink on the nationality and borders bill so Afghans and other people seeking
asylum were not treated differently based on how they reached the UK.
“Last month 27 refugees tragically
lost their lives whilst trying to cross the Channel in a small boat to reach
the safety of UK shores,” it said. “It was reported that people fleeing
Afghanistan were sadly involved in this tragedy.”
As well as providing a safe and
legal route for people from Afghanistan, it said the government must provide
extra financial support for councils to successfully settle them.
Enver Solomon, the chief executive
of the Refugee Council, said: “Afghans have been left with a heartbreaking
choice. Either they stay in a country where they fear for their lives every day
or take the gut-wrenching decision to leave and embark on a dangerous journey
in an attempt to reach safety.
“It is critical the government
brings forward the scheme they promised and help provide the safe routes and
support these people both desperately need and deserve.”
Solomon added that under the
nationality and borders bill, “anyone reaching the UK from Afghanistan who does
not arrive under a resettlement scheme could be prosecuted and sent to prison
for having entered the country unlawfully”.
“The government must rethink its
proposals and ensure all Afghans can be given protection irrespective of how
they arrived in the UK.”
