Despite the promise of ‘Operation Warm Welcome’, Afghan refugees are slowly being abandoned
A brief new report by the Refugee Council finds that the promise of the Government's 'Operation Warm Welcome' to help people fleeing Afghanistan has not yet been met and Afghan refugees are slowly being abandoned.
You can download the 13-page report here.
Operation Warm Welcome was announced in August 2021 after the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. The then Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged that the UK would ensure that Afghans who worked closely with the British military and UK Government in Afghanistan would be supported to rebuild their lives in the UK.
The Refugee Council highlights a series of failures of Operation Warm Welcome and finds the Government's actions have left thousands of men, women and children trapped in limbo, with nowhere permanent to live, while thousands more remain stuck in Afghanistan or Pakistan unable to reach the UK safely.
Many Afghans who were resettled in the UK were provided with temporary hotel accommodation. As we reported on EIN earlier this week, this form of accommodation is now ending.
The Refugee Council stated: "At the end of March 2023 there were almost 9,000 Afghan men, women and children who had been evacuated from Afghanistan still being accommodated in temporary hotel accommodation. These people face being evicted from hotels by the end of August. With no policy in place for what will happen at this point, Afghan families are facing the risk of being street homeless after being evicted."
One Afghan woman told the Refugee Council: "For two years they didn't offer us anything like housing. I never got anything offered in two years. I didn't see any community, any help for Afghan people in this country, the way they treat us. Now they're just saying that we sign a paper on the 16th. We have to leave this hotel. So we don't have any accommodation. So on 16th August, when we wake up, we have nowhere to go."
In addition, the Refugee Council report highlights failures of the Home Office's Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), which was formally opened in January 2022 with a commitment to resettle 5,000 Afghan refugees in the first year and 20,000 over the coming years.
While the initial Operation Pitting in 2021 saw 15,000 Afghans evacuated to the UK, the Refugee Council says only 54 people have been newly resettled in the UK on ACRS pathways since January 2022's announcement.
The report states: "The failure of this resettlement has resulted in hundreds being stuck in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many have been accepted for UK resettlement but are unable to travel, with a large number held in very precarious conditions in British Government funded hotels in Pakistan. It has been reported that the hotels have already cost £17m supporting at least 2,000 people."
Family reunion for those Afghans who have been resettled in the UK is also insufficient, the Refugee Council finds.
"Two years since the fall of Kabul, and as the humanitarian situation has deteriorated, the Home Office has failed to design or implement a mechanism to reunite these evacuees with their closest family members. There is currently no way for people in the UK on ACRS pathway 1 to even register their interest in reunion. Similarly, there is no information for how someone who arrives on ACRS pathway 3 and who has been separated from close family can apply to be reunited with them in the future," the report explains.
According to the Refugee Council, the combined failures in Operation Warm Welcome have contributed to the large numbers of Afghans resorting to crossing the Channel via small boat. "This is the only method to reunite with family or find safety," the report notes.
The Refugee Council says: "Channel crossings by Afghan refugees have increased 100-fold over the last four years. In the year ending March 2023, 19 per cent of all Channel crossings were made by Afghan nationals, 8,429 Afghans crossed the Channel while only 96 have been newly resettled. This 96 figure includes arrivals through the ACRS, UK resettlement schemes and Community Sponsorship. For every Afghan who arrived on a resettlement scheme in the year ending March 2023, almost 90 crossed the Channel in a small boat."
The new Illegal Migration Act 2023, however, prohibits all Afghans crossing in small boats from ever claiming asylum in the UK and earmarks them for detention and removal.
Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, called on the Government to urgently make good on its commitment of relocating and housing the Afghan men, women and children who stood with the UK against the Taliban.
"We must uphold our pledge to give Afghans a genuine 'warm welcome' with functioning resettlement schemes and family reunion mechanisms, and suitable plans for long-term accommodation in the UK. Our Afghan allies deserve security and certainty, not betrayal," Solomon commented.