UK diplomats have warned the Rishi Sunak government that Afghan refugees in Pakistan could not be protected from detention and deportation if the relocation process was not stepped up.
The process has significantly slowed down since November 2022 after the British government stopped chartering flights from Pakistan to bring applicants eligible under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) to safety, according to the Independent. The government also demanded refugees to find their own housing in the UK before traveling, which further hindered the process. Between January and November 2022, an average number of 385 people were taken to the UK on charter flights. In the next three months, only 56 people were relocated via commercial flights.
Now, things are appearing to change. Lisa Giovannetti KC, who is leading the Government legal team, told the Independent that ministers have agreed on a change to government policy to “allow ARAP cases and ACRS [Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme], those eligible under those schemes to be resettled to the UK without a prior requirement for settled accommodation.” She added that the government would offer “suitable accommodation as a primary option as quickly as possible.”
The shift in the British government’s policy comes after Pakistan decided earlier this month to forcibly deport 1.7 million undocumented refugees from Afghanistan if they did not leave the country by November. Among them are applicants waiting for resettlement by the UK government, including those whose visas have expired, near expiring, or those not registered with the Pakistani government. Last month, a number of refugees from Afghanistan on the UK’s list for relocation were arrested after Pakistani police raided a hotel in Islamabad, according to the Independent. They were only released after the British High Commission (BHC) in Islamabad intervened. Some eligible families also do not have the proper documentation to get exit permits, which could delay their relocation.
The Independent revealed that BHC officials are negotiating with Pakistani authorities to ensure that refugees from Afghanistan on the UK resettlement scheme are not affected by the crackdown after the November 1 deadline. There are about 3,000 nationals of Afghanistan currently stranded in Islamabad while hundreds more await in Iran for resettlement to the UK.
However, a risk assessment by the BHC highlights the challenges to completing the relocation process anytime soon “for practical and logistical reasons.” The assessment also warns of an “increase in tensions between different communities in Pakistan” after 1 November. This comes amid the UK government’s advice against all travels to Afghanistan, saying the security situation is volatile and there is a “high threat of terrorist attacks” throughout the country—meaning that refugees would be at risk if they were forced to return.
According to a British government official who spoke with the Independent,12,200 individuals have been relocated to the UK under ARAP since last April. “We owe a debt of gratitude to those interpreters and other staff eligible under the ARAP scheme who worked for, or with, UK forces in Afghanistan. The UK government has made a commitment to relocate eligible Afghans and their families to the UK under the ARAP scheme, and will honor this,” the official said.
The British government has repeatedly been criticized over its handling of the ARAP scheme and failure to bring those eligible nationals of Afghanistan to safety.
British Labour MP Dan Jarvis said, “The government’s failure to get a grip on ARAP means we now find ourselves in a farcical situation, where people who risked their lives in support of our mission and have been promised safe passage to the UK are having to do the legwork and embark on a house-hunting mission if they want to get here.”
Sarah Magill, managing director of Afghanistan crisis response charity Free From Fear, accused the UK government of “using Afghan evacuees as a political football”. She said, “We should have rolled out the red carpet for these brave people who served alongside our troops; instead we are locking them up like battery hens. We must not delay their evacuation a moment longer.”
