Afghan refugees forced to relocate, relive displacement nightmare: UK

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Guardian
3 Feb 2023 10:21

Forty families brought to the UK after the hasty US withdrawal from Afghanistan were given only a few weeks to move 200 miles away.

Afghan refugees who have been living in a London hotel for a year and have been ordered to move to Wetherby. (The Guardian)

Hundreds of Afghan refugees who arrived in London 18 months ago after the hasty US withdrawal from Afghanistan have been told they have only weeks to uproot their families and relocate 200 miles away, The Guardian reported.

The Home Office has informed 40 families with 150 children who have lived in Kensington, west London, for more than a year that they must leave the capital for another hotel in Wetherby, on the outskirts of Leeds.

Some refugees, including a former Afghan commander and former British army translators, said they would refuse to go because their children, who have already been traumatized by conflict and displacement, will suffer worse if they are forced to drop out of school.

Concurrently, others have found work in London and are apprehensive about their prospects in West Yorkshire.

It comes amid growing worries that Home Secretary Suella Braverman has failed to keep commitments made by Boris Johnson to support Afghans who worked and fought alongside the UK in Afghanistan.

According to briefings given to local councils, the administration intends to shift all Afghan families out of hotels by the end of this year.

An estimated 9,000 Afghans remain in temporary housing in the United Kingdom 18 months after being evacuated from Afghanistan as part of Operation Pitting. Western occupation forces withdrew in August 2021, and the Taliban took power.

Families opposed to relocating to Wetherby were evacuated to the United Kingdom because a family member worked with British authorities. They are currently residing in a four-star hotel close to the Victoria & Albert Museum. Some received letters last week informing them that they must relocate to the Mercure hotel in Wetherby.

The Home Office sent the migrants letters outlining their relocation dates, which begin on February 7.

Many of the refugees stated that they already suffer from mental health issues that will worsen if they are displaced again.

According to a spokesperson, officials have been informing refugees of the impending relocation since September.

Some people in Wetherby have previously expressed their opposition to the local hotel accepting Afghan residents.

Some Afghan refugees plan to march outside Parliament on Friday morning as part of their resistance against being forced to leave Kensington.

It is 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.