Afghan Resettlement Update

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The Shadow Minister criticised the Government's handling of Afghan relocation, questioning delays in setting up schemes and processing applications. He asked about rehousing statistics, backlog sizes, remaining applicants in Afghanistan, flights from Pakistan, data breaches, hotel usage, consultation with local authorities on permanent homes, notice procedures for evictions, decision-making processes for deadlines, and guarantees against homelessness.

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The MP questioned the Minister on several issues including why 8,000 Afghan families are still in temporary hotels, the backlog of cases at 66,000, and why no flights have been carrying ARAP-eligible Afghans from Pakistan since November. He also asked for information about consultations with local authorities and guarantees that none of these families will be made homeless as a result.

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The MP commended the Prime Minister for allowing British Council contractors and others to continue applications from a third country, thereby helping those in fear of their lives leave Afghanistan. However, he asked about obstacles preventing some approved contractors from obtaining necessary visas and paperwork.

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The SNP questioned whether any specific funding is coming to Scotland. They asked for details on communication with the Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, current numbers in bridging hotels, and concerns about reasonable offers of accommodation under local housing legislation.

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Asked if it was right to distinguish in law between those who come here legally and those illegally, specifically regarding the ARAP scheme.

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Asked about the specific provision for families in bridging hotels, particularly those with large numbers of family members. Inquired if there was any rumour of a hotel closure.

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Praised the welcome given by the City of London and asked about the importance of helping people move on to permanent accommodation.

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Critiqued the Government's record on delivering schemes for Afghan interpreters and their colleagues, noting some resorting to dangerous small boat journeys.

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Asked about tightening international sanctions and travel bans on the Taliban for the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan.

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The Minister understands the bond between UK forces and Afghans, but there are concerns about ARAP and ACRS processes. Families approved under ARAP in Islamabad face accommodation issues. Can he provide more details on future arrivals and assurances that those currently in Afghanistan or Pakistan won't be disadvantaged?

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The Minister is passionate about this issue and an expert; does he believe his approach will be effective?

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While the Minister says commitments will be honoured, the Government's actions seem hollow. She highlights a case of British children in Kabul with no safe route for their mother. When will ACRS open up?

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Welcoming the Minister's statement, he inquires about why wider support for social housing schemes was previously limited.

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Expressing concern about the condition of Afghans living in hotels, he asks for more support to help them integrate into society.

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Welcoming the Minister's new role, he asks about plans with local government and challenges faced in securing long-term accommodation.

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The Minister mentioned that half of this cohort are children. Members of the all-party parliamentary group for Afghan women and girls heard this morning from their headteacher about year 11 schoolgirls being moved tomorrow, six weeks before their GCSEs. They will not be found meaningful education arrangements for another 20 weeks. He must surely agree that integration must offer meaningful opportunities for Afghan women and girls, particularly in relation to education. That may be one of the reasons that families turn down accommodation. Will he also agree that the support provided by Wales’s youth organisation, Urdd, was pioneering in integrating Afghan families into Wales? Will he agree to work with the APPG, Urdd and Afghan women’s representatives in Wales to develop a toolkit to empower Afghan women and girls as they integrate here?

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My constituent’s wife is trapped in Afghanistan. She applied for a visa to come as a spouse. It took eight months to get a decision, but the application was turned down because there was a discrepancy of 33p a month in his salary with what he had put in the original application. The way the Government are treating people from Afghanistan is a disgrace. We need to ensure that people are treated fairly and that their applications are looked at. When there is a genuine application, as there is in this case, the Government should make the right decision.

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Perfectly suitable accommodation is not easily available in Newcastle. I know that from the thousands of constituents who write to me desperately seeking it—it is the No. 1 issue. I also know it from talking to Afghan refugees, and Ukrainian refugees for that matter. What will the Minister do after 18 months to magic up this perfectly suitable accommodation, or will he seriously be making homeless those who risked their lives at our sides?

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I have a particular case that I know the Minister will want to help me with, and I know he is genuine in his concerns here. It relates to a gentleman who worked for the British Geographical Survey, part of which is based at Heriot-Watt University in my constituency. He spent a lot of time working to keep British people safe and to help them navigate round Afghanistan while the British Government were helping Afghanistan to explore mining opportunities to bring income to the country. Despite all his hard work, his ARAP application has been turned down and he is having to appeal it. Will the Minister speak to me about this case to see whether we can get it speeded up?

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As the right hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts) said, the APPG for Afghan women and girls met this morning to specifically discuss UK resettlement. I have to tell the Minister that the feedback was not great. Nobody wants to be staying in hotel accommodation. I reiterate her offer: will he please engage with the APPG and will he please provide reassurance that in terms of that appropriate accommodation, situations such as schooling and job opportunities—those things that help integration—are being considered?

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On 20 February, after 18 months in a bridging hotel in west London, the Nadiri family and many other Afghan refugees were relocated to Leeds and housed in another bridging hotel. Yalda Nadiri was about to take her GCSEs at William Morris Sixth Form in my constituency. Five weeks on, she still has no school place. Will the Minister see that Yalda can return to her school and take her exams? If he cannot do that, one wonders what he can do.

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I am absolutely convinced that the Minister is committed in this regard—his track record shows that. Will he put some pressure on the Home Secretary and also, disappointingly, the International Development Minister, the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), who wrote to me after a Westminster Hall debate on this very issue and said that he would not be able to help Afghan women judges whose lives are under threat from the Taliban? They are clearly eligible for phase 3 of the ACRS.

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I am grateful to the Government for their work to resettle those of our allies who are in danger. Nobody doubts that the Minister accepts that there are people who still need to be processed. Is there any way to enlarge the team so as to be able to deal with these cases more efficiently? There are families living in fear of their lives every second of every day. More needs to be done urgently to help those whose lives are on the line, due to their loyalty to democracy and those with whom they worked.

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In the 18 months since the UK Government capitulated to the Taliban, my constituent Hadi Sharifi has been helping Afghans who worked for or with us to escape. One is the former commander of Kabul, whose injuries at the time prevented him from leaving with UK forces. He is now across the border, but why does he still have no legal means to enter the UK? Why is this Government’s reward for his service to our forces to throw him to people smugglers, criminalise his entry to this country and then threaten to ship him to Rwanda?

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I am the secretary of the National Union of Journalists parliamentary group, and we are aware from working with international bodies that at least 200 Afghan journalists have fled to Pakistan and Iran. Their visas are expiring, and some of them have been harassed by Taliban supporters. The NUJ wrote to the Home Secretary earlier this month, and we would welcome a meeting with the Minister to ensure that the scheme is now adapted to cover those vulnerable journalists more effectively.

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There were several thousand Afghans in the asylum system even before Operation Pitting. Indeed, many of those are still awaiting decisions, including a young Hazara mother whom my office is working with, alongside her two daughters. Since then, many Afghans have come to the UK by small boats due to the failings of the ACRS. Given the situation in Afghanistan, does the Minister agree that it is surely inconceivable that the UK would deport anyone back to Afghanistan?