Afghan evacuation: where will the refugees go?
Distressing images of desperate Afghans storming Kabul’s airport, clinging onto the wings of planes and cramming into military aircraft show just how dire the situation has become for the thousands of people who are trying to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban’s swift takeover.
Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said no one could have anticipated such a rapid collapse of the Afghan government, but that the UK was now doing “everything we can” to remove UK nationals and local allies.
Raab, who is said to be under pressure for having been on holiday as the Taliban seized Kabul, said ministers were also working on a “bespoke” asylum scheme to help the most vulnerable Afghan nationals to resettle in the UK, claiming it has “always been a country that has provided safe haven for those fleeing persecution”.
But who are these refugees? And where will they go?
Amid the chaos, the UK has already brought home some UK citizens and resettled Afghan nationals who have supported British efforts in the country through the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP), launched in April.
After the Taliban took control just over a week after the US withdrawal, the UK sent around 900 troops to Afghanistan to help evacuate British nationals and Afghans who are eligible to resettle in the UK – a group that includes those who worked for the British government as interpreters, cultural advisers and embassy staff.
Vice-Admiral Sir Ben Key, who is running the UK part of the evacuation, said around 300 people had been flown out so far and that more flights to Kabul were planned. He said that military aircraft are also flying from Afghanistan to airports across the region, where people can then be put on civilian charter flights. Rescue flight destinations have included the UAE and Qatar.
Sir Laurie Bristow, the British Ambassador who has emerged as something of a hero among the chaos, is also helping the effort. After refusing to be evacuated from the country over the weekend, Sir Laurie has set up an emergency consular operation at the airport and pledged to stay “for as long as possible” to lead efforts to evacuate stranded Brits and Afghan staff.
According to reports, the government already has 2,000 offers of accommodation from 104 councils as part of ARAP, but needs more – especially larger properties, as the average size of families being resettled is understood to be six people. In total, the UK hopes to help 6,000 to 7,000 British nationals and eligible Afghan staff to leave.
But there are concerns that many more are vulnerable to retaliation from the Taliban.
Responding to increasing pressure from MPs and campaign groups from across the political spectrum, Raab said a “bespoke” resettlement scheme would be set out by the home secretary and PM “in due course”.
The scheme will reportedly be modelled on the Syrian refugee resettlement drawn up by David Cameron in 2015, which has resettled 20,319 Syrians from camps on the country’s borders straight to the UK.
The Home Office offered no detail on how many Afghans would be permitted asylum in the UK under the new scheme, saying “it will be guided by the capacity of local authorities”.
But with reports that women are already being forced to marry fighters, quit their jobs and remain at home, pressure is growing on the government to reinstate foreign aid and to work with allies to provide routes, funding and safety for millions more Afghans who fear for their future in the country.
At a Nato press conference this afternoon, Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general, confirmed that along with the US and UK rescue efforts, other allies were working to help evacuate foreign personnel along with Afghans wanting to leave.
Stoltenberg said the Turkish forces were helping to maintain the airport while the Norwegian forces were running the airport hospital.
He added that at today’s North Atlantic Council, several Allies had also announced that they are sending in airplanes to the region, so as to build air bridges to get people out.