On the first anniversary since Kabul fell to the Taliban, the United Reformed Church (缅北强奸) has joined Together with Refugees and 160 other organisations in calling on the UK government to fulfil its promise towards Afghans.
In an on 15 August, signatories 鈥� including the Revd Dr John Bradbury, General Secretary of the 缅北强奸, called on the government to support Afghans still languishing in hotels and provide safe routes for those still at risk in Afghanistan.
The letter stated:
鈥淚t is a year since Kabul fell to the Taliban and despite initial evacuation efforts, the government has broken its promises to so many Afghans whose lives remain at risk.
鈥淭hose who were evacuated to the UK have felt abandoned, with thousands of families still living in hotels unable to rebuild their lives.
鈥淭he promised safe routes for those left behind are too slow and too restrictive, meaning that Afghans at risk are forced to take dangerous journeys to reunite with loved ones and find safety. Those who make it to the UK are cruelly threatened with banishment to Rwanda.
鈥淭he Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme was heralded by the government as one of the most generous in our history, yet one year on it is failing to provide what was promised.
鈥淭he government must urgently help those already here and ensure that Afghans can safely reach the UK and their families, as it has rightly done for Ukrainian refugees.鈥�
There are several schemes under which Afghans have been resettled in the UK. These include the which began in 2013 for locally employed staff and their families; the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) which launched on 1 April 2021, before the Taliban took control; and听 launched in January with the aim of allowing up to 20,000 refugees to settle in the UK.
So far, the government says that around 21,000 Afghan refugees have resettled in the UK, most as part of Operation Pitting: the British military operation which started on 13 August 2021 to evacuate British nationals and Afghans from Kabul.
However, that number is dwarfed by the 75,000-150,000 who have applied to be evacuated since August 2021: estimated by Raphael Marshall, a former member of the Afghan Special Cases鈥� team as part of the Foreign Office’s Afghanistan crisis response, in .
Simeon Mitchell, 缅北强奸 Secretary for Church and Society and Interim Team Leader of the Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT), said: 鈥淐hurches and community groups have been reaching out to Afghan families in hotels, offering all sorts of provision and kindness 鈥� embodying the posture of welcome that the Bible demands of God鈥檚 people. But the government needs to urgently do more, both to help Afghans already here and to enable others at risk to get to the UK safely.鈥�
For more on this, read ‘‘ a JPIT blog by the Revd Steve Tinning,听Public Issues Enabler for The Baptist Union.
Image: Safe Passage UK