LONDON: The UK’s Ministry of Defence has warned that Afghans approved for resettlement in Britain will need to make their own way out of their homeland.
Nearly 9,000 people in Afghanistan are eligible to come to the UK, mainly as a result of serving alongside British forces, but will be given no assistance to “make their own way to a third country,” Luke Pollard, defense minister, told the House of Commons in a written statement on Tuesday.
Once they arrive in a third country, the UK will assist with housing and travel until 2028, he added.
“Having seen increased evidence of successful self-moves and after assessing carefully again the risks to this cohort and other factors, including value for money for the taxpayer, we have decided to end in-country assistance for movements out of Afghanistan,” Pollard said.
The MoD closed applications for its Afghan resettlement schemes last year in the wake of a major data breach that left thousands of people’s identities and personal information freely available to the Taliban.
Despite the closure, the UK’s National Audit Office said in March it would take at least three years for all outstanding applicants with resettlement approval to be moved to Britain.
Temporary housing in the UK owned by the MoD for the purpose of the Afghan Resettlement Programme will also be discontinued, and Pollard said that of the six hotels currently holding Afghan families, two are set to be closed within days.
“The MoD’s announcement to stop in-country support for moving safely out of Afghanistan will come as a complete shock to Afghans with a relocation offer. The fact that some have been able to escape doesn’t mean that that option is open to everyone,” Prof. Sara de Jong, a co-founder of the Sulha Alliance established to help former Afghan interpreters working with UK forces, told The Independent.
“Those who can’t take the risk to go out of hiding to get the paperwork and don’t have the financial means to pay hugely inflated visa prices are now abandoned. The (Pollard) statement also ignores the ongoing security issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which makes independent moving even more challenging.”
Last week, The Independent reported that two Afghans given approval to be relocated to the UK were taking the MoD to court over the failure to assist people to flee Afghanistan.
Acting on behalf of one of the claimants, Tim Owen KC told a judge at the High Court in London that “on the face of it, it appears there is a freeze on relocations from Afghanistan,” adding that people left there “are being faced with a complete information black hole.”
