Jon Stone,Adam Forrest and Holly Bancroft
Fri, July 14, 2023
General Lord Dannatt (inset) joined calls for the prime minister to fulfil promises to refugees (Getty Images)
Military chiefs and MPs have called on Rishi Sunak to keep promises made to Afghan refugees, as they urged the government not to forget its “debt of honour” to those who fought with the UK against the Taliban.
In a letter to the prime minister, key figures – including former British army chief General Lord Dannatt and ex-Nato general secretary Lord Robertson – called for action to end the “disgrace” of those still stranded in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The demand to help Afghans who were promised sanctuary in Britain comes afterThe Independent repeatedly exposed failings in the government’s resettlement schemes.
Among those who have suffered at the hands of the system are the Afghan air force pilot who served alongside coalition forces but is now threatened with deportation to Rwanda because he arrived in the UK in a small boat.
There is also the scandal of nearly 2,000 Afghans who have been deemed eligible to come to the UK, but have been abandoned in hotels in Pakistan still waiting for relocation – an issue first exposed by The Independent. The refugees, who helped British forces, have been accepted under resettlement programmes and moved from their homes in Afghanistan, but have not been given the final green light to come to the UK.
MP Dan Jarvis, a former army officer who served in Afghanistan, today praised The Independent for “shining a light” on the issue as he joined a chorus of voices demanding the prime minister pay attention to those who have been “forgotten and ignored”.
The letter calls on Mr Sunak to “urgently” establish control over the situation, warning that movement from Afghanistan to the UK “effectively ceased” seven months ago, leaving thousands stranded in dangerous situations.
Mr Jarvis told The Independent: “I think Afghanistan is very much in the rear-view mirror and there isn’t the political will to honour the commitments that were made previously.
“These are not economic migrants, these are not people who just want to leave Afghanistan for a better life. These are people who are and will be murdered by the Taliban if they do not get to a place of safety.
“These are people who risked their lives to serve alongside us in support of our mission, at our request, and to whom the UK prime minister made a commitment to shift heaven and earth to get them to a place of safety.”
The former officer said he was “grateful” for The Independent’s campaigning on the issue, adding: “I really appreciate the fact that you’re shining a light on it, because you... have done really good work in trying to keep the flame alive with this.”
Latest figures show that, since the fall of Kabul, 21,387 people have been relocated to the UK under Arap – designed to bring those who helped British forces during the war to the UK – and ACRS, the general scheme for at-risk Afghans applying for resettlement.
But there are many who have not yet made it to the UK. Those accepted under the schemes are initially issued with temporary visas to neighbouring Pakistan where they are put in hotels or holding centres before accommodation can be found for them in Britain.
In the year from September 21 to November 22, 1,377 Afghans were relocated from Pakistan to the UK. But since December last year the government has quietly stopped moving people from there on to the UK, the letter says, with just six relocated to Britain in that time.
According to latest figures, this has left 1,953 Afghans living in “limbo”. The letter’s signatories warned that figure could be close to 4,000 in a year’s time.
Some campaigners claim the government has stopped the flights from Pakistan because it is sensitive to criticism over refugees being housed in hotels in Britain, due to a lack of other suitable accommodation.
But the apparent decision to clear people from hotels before more Afghans are allowed to come to Britain under the scheme means the bottleneck has been moved to Pakistan.
“Their numbers are growing, their lives are on hold, and they are desperate,” the letter says.
“Some have been there for a year, and they are facing a second year. They believe that the British government is working to enable them to start their new lives in the UK. They are mistaken.
“These are people who have passed the rigorous Arap/ACRS tests, they have risked their lives, alongside our own service men and women, to support the UK’s objectives in Afghanistan. It is inconceivable that we should renege on our debt of honour, and forget them.”
Top military figures and politicians who have pursued ministers on the fate of the stranded Afghans say they have been met with a lack of political will in government and found a chaotic situation in which no department has taken responsibility for bringing them to safety.
The letter, meanwhile, warns there “is no plan”.
General Sir John McColl, the army’s former deputy supreme allied commander for Europe, said: “The plight of those Afghans ignored and forgotten in Pakistan is a disgrace. The government must honour its pledge to support those who fought and died alongside us so bravely.”
The former prime minister’s special envoy to Afghanistan told The Independent the government appeared to be “quite happy for this issue to be forgotten and swept under the carpet”, adding: “They’re out of sight and therefore out of mind.”
Mr Jarvis added: “It's almost impossible not to conclude that there isn't a plan and that those people have been abandoned.”
Lord West, a former head of the Royal Navy, told The Independent: “We’re letting people down. We owe the Afghans – so we jolly well ought to get on and do it. Having made all sorts of very good statements, it doesn’t look like we aren’t resettling people we said we would.”
He added: “If it’s an administrative cock-up it must be resolved. If it’s not a cock-up then it goes against government policy. The accommodation seems to be the real problem. It’s not beyond the wit of man to resolve this.”
Lord Robertson told The Independent there was a “moral commitment” made to Afghans eligible for Arap that had been allowed to “drift”.
The former Labour defence secretary said: “There is an outstanding obligation that they need to deliver on. Urgency is appropriate given the promises and commitments made.”
Lord Robertson also called for a rethink on the case of the Afghan pilot refused under the Arap scheme.
The pilot, threatened with deportation to Rwanda, flew more than 30 combat missions alongside coalition forces. As part of the Afghan air force, he went on sorties planned and designed by British and US commanders in the run-up to the fall of Kabul in 2021.
“It seems ludicrous to threaten someone like that with deportation when we committed to help those who helped us,” he added. “Other countries have lived up to their obligations – we should do the same.”
Other signatories of the letter include former international development secretary Rory Stewart, former cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill, and Dr Sara de Jong, co-founder of The Sulha Alliance, a charity which supports Afghan interpreters and other local civilians who assisted British forces.
The Independent has contacted the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence for comment.
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