Afghan families approved for sanctuary in Britain will have to flee the Taliban-run country on their own, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
Defence minister Luke Pollard told the Commons in a written statement on Tuesday that the nearly 9,000 Afghans eligible to come to the UK but still awaiting relocation would get no help from the UK to leave Afghanistan.
They will “need to make their own way to a third country when they are able to do so”, he said, with housing and visa support available there until 2028.
Mr Pollard said that some of those eligible to come to the UK had already moved to third countries, such as Pakistan, this year. He explained: “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.”
The National Audit Office revealed in March that it would take the government nearly three more years to bring all those promised sanctuary to Britain if evacuations were not sped up.
The Afghan resettlement schemes closed to new applicants in July last year, just before it was revealed that the MoD had been responsible for a vast data leak of applicants’ details that the department said had put thousands of lives at risk.
Families are eligible to come to Britain due to their previous support of the UK forces in Afghanistan, or because their data was breached. Ministers had previously committed to bringing all eligible Afghans to the UK by March 2029 under the new combined scheme, the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP). However, Mr Pollard said on Tuesday that a cut-off of December 2028 would be introduced, when all help and relocations would end.
The MoD has also ended the use of short-term housing on the defence estate for Afghan families, with Mr Pollard telling MPs “we cannot sustain ARP support indefinitely”.
Six hotels are in use to house Afghan families, Mr Pollard said, and two of these will be closed within days. The Independent reported last week that two Afghans, approved for UK relocation, are challenging the MoD at the High Court over the failure to help them flee Afghanistan.
Dr Sara de Jong, a founding member of the Sulha alliance, which helps former Afghan military interpreters, said: “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.
“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 statement also ignores the ongoing security issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which makes independent moving even more challenging.”
