9,000+ Afghan refugees still stranded in UK two years after withdrawal

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
13 Jan 2023 17:57
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Turkish media outlet Anadolu Agency reports that many Afghan evacuees in the UK were asked by several governmental bodies not to talk to the media regarding their living situation.

Refugees from Afghanistan wait to be processed after arriving on an evacuation flight at Heathrow Airport, London, on August 26, 2021. (Getty Images)

The UK has carried out its largest evacuation mission since the 1940s after it pulled out from Afghanistan thousands of Afghan nationals who served in the British army and other governmental institutions, Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

The Afghan citizens were evacuated along with their families, the report noted.

The media outlet added that out of the 21,000 evacuees, almost half of them were placed in hotels while the rest were provided with accommodations.

According to the Home Department data, 9,242 refugees are staying in 63 hotels across the United Kingdom, almost half of which are children.

During the UK's withdrawal from Afghanistan, 18,000 people, including over 6,000 British citizens, were evacuated in two weeks after the Taliban took over.

However, several thousands of individuals that were left behind after the evacuation mission ended continued to leave the Asian country and applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or the Afghan Citizen's Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).

The United Kingdom deployed then 600 troops to Afghanistan to secure the evacuation of its nationals and embassy staff.

"Some made it to the UK on their own and applied to one of those schemes, while others submitted their applications through British diplomatic missions in neighboring nations," Anadolu added.

The media outlet interviewed the founder of the Afghan Community and Welfare Centre in Walsall, Fahim Zazai, who said many Afghans staying in hotels arrived months after the evacuation operation ended, noting that not all hotel occupants are evacuees.

"Zazai was 20 years old when he made it to the UK from Afghanistan in 1999," the news agency said, adding that "He [Zazai] has since dedicated himself to help refugees settle in the community with the charity he founded 15 years ago."

Currently, Zazai is devoting many hours of his day to assist Afghan evacuees, the news site said.

"A person has recently contacted me from Preston, saying it's been almost two years since him, his wife, and their six children are stuck in a hotel. I told him that all we could do is to look for private housing, which then needs to be approved by the Home Office. This person has developed mental health issues. It's devastating for them," he told Anadolu.

Zazai pointed however that integrating into society is not an easy task for the refugees.

"They have no support in terms of language or a social circle. So basically, they are completely isolated in a random location," he stated.

Refugees told not to talk to media

British media outlets say the refugees placed in hotels are costing the UK around £1 million ($1.2 million) per day.

As the country faces an economic crisis and due to the large expenses the UK is burdened with, many British citizens are questioning why the government is not putting a greater effort to find Afghan families accommodation outside hotels to cut costs.

Citing Zazai, the report added that refugees disclosed to him that "their case workers or Home Office officials told them not to talk to the media about their predicament if they want to receive a council house."

"In addition to verbal warnings, an email was also reportedly sent to the refugees, telling them to avoid speaking to the press," the news site added.

"That's why many journalists contacted me, but I wasn't much help since I could not get those in hotels to talk as they were scared of the authorities, although this is a free country and they shouldn't be feeling uncomfortable when talking to journalists," Zazai told Anadolu.

"The pressure is not limited to those in hotels," the report added.

According to the report, Zazai said that "a BBC crew had reached out to him to interview a family, but subsequently faced obstacles while trying to film the interview inside the family's new home."

"The case worker who is supposed to support the family got involved, opposing the interview. Then, he called his office, who then contacted the council about it and they reached out to the Home Office. We were shocked by their approach. We finally went to our charity's office to film the interview. The officials probably want to cover up their failures," he added.

The housing crisis in the UK is not only affecting Afghan refugees.

The British Times reported earlier that Ukrainian refugees faced a 30% increase in homelessness rates in December as host families in the UK are ending their commitment to providing them with housing.

According to December data, a total of 83,900 refugees have arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme since it began in March.

UK, earlier in 2022, designed and introduced a Homes for Ukraine scheme where British families provide Ukrainian refugees with support for no less than six months in exchange for a £350 monthly payout by the government.

Earlier in August, warnings emerged in Britain that around 50,000 Ukrainian refugees in the country could become homeless by next year.

It's worth noting that the United States and its various western allies, including the United Kingdom, are behind many war crimes in Afghanistan, which they committed as part of their 20-year-long occupation of the country.

The United States even went out of its way to commit a war crime against Afghan civilians following its incredibly chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, which saw hundreds upon hundreds flocking toward the airport, stampedes, and abandoned allies.

The United Kingdom helped Washington do its bidding in Afghanistan, and British troops are just as complicit in all the crimes and the chaotic withdrawal as their American counterparts.

The British Empire has previously been humiliated in Afghanistan, during the Anglo-Afghan War from 1839 to 1842, however, in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the US, former Prime Minister Tony Blair joined George W. Bush in the Afghanistan invasion to overthrow the Taliban.