UK welcomes Afghans under resettlement scheme

The United Kingdom has revealed that thousands of Afghan women, children and others in need are welcomed to the UK under resettlement schemes, adding that those who have been forced to flee their home or face threats of persecution from the Taliban will be offered a route to set up permanent home in UK. 

Government of the UK on its official website, stated that it's ambition is for the new Afghanistan citizens' resettlement scheme to resettle 5,000 Afghan nationals who are at risk due to the current crisis, noting that priority will be given to women, girls and other minorities, who are most at risk of human rights abuses and dehumanising treatment by Taliban. 

According to the UK government, This resettlement scheme will be kept under further review for future years, with up to a total of 20,000 in the long-term. The ambition to provide protection to thousands of people fleeing Afghanistan and the complex picture on the ground means there will be significant challenges delivering the scheme, but the government is working at speed to address these obstacles.

The government said that it would work with other stakeholders to ensure that Afghans, who will be rebuilding their lives in the UK have the support they need, and stressed that the scheme is modelled on the successful Syrian vulnerable persons resettlement scheme, which resettled 20,000 Syrian refugees over a seven year period from 2014 to 2021.

The UK is working with international partners to develop a system to identify those most at risk and resettle them, ensuring help goes to those that need it. The Prime Minister is expected to discuss this with G7 leaders in a virtual meeting in the coming days.

The new route is separate from, and in addition to, the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which offers any current or former locally employed staff who are assessed to be under serious threat to life priority relocation to the UK. 5,000 former Afghan staff and their family members are expected to be relocated to the UK by the end of this year under ARAP.