Tens of thousands of Afghans waiting to hear if they will be relocated to UK – 17 months after Taliban takeover

Tens of thousands of Afghans are still waiting to hear if they will be relocated to Britain, 17 months after the Taliban takeover.

New figures from the Ministry of Defence show there are still 71,149 applications to be processed under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap).

The scheme was designed for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK government in the country.

A recent wave of revenge attacks in Afghanistan has left many of them in further fear for their lives.

Charities have warned that people who helped deliver UK-funded programmes are falling through the cracks of the government’s resettlement schemes. Afghans are also in danger while they wait for months for a decision on their Arap applications, they say.

In response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the MoD revealed that in November its staff were only just looking at applications made in January 2022, meaning people faced at least an eight-month delay.

Further FOI figures show that over 127,000 applications have been received since April 2021 to the scheme. An estimated 71,149 applications are still to be processed, but the MoD said the vast majority of these are thought to be ineligible or duplicates.

Charity workers and former civil servants warned that the criteria is far too restrictive, leaving British aid workers in Afghanistan at risk of abandonment.

As of 21 December 2022, around 10,900 applicants, not including their family members, were found to be ineligible for Arap, with 2,780 confirmed eligible.

Around 4,300 additional people (principal applicants and their family members) are thought to be eligible for sanctuary in Britain under the scheme. The MoD said that over 12,000 people have been brought to the UK under Arap.

An MoD spokesperson said: “Our priority as set by Ministers, is not simply processing a volume of applications but finding and relocating those Afghans who meet the ARAP criteria through direct service with the British Armed Forces.

“There are fewer than 1,000 interpreters and other staff yet to be allocated a place on the scheme. Our priority is finding them and bringing the individuals and their families to the UK.”

One person impacted by the delays is a former DfiD employee in Kabul. Fatima*, who is currently living in Dubai, applied for Arap relocation in June 2021 and had her application rejected as the MoD incorrectly concluded she had been a contractor and therefore didn’t qualify.

After further delays, she was told in February 2022 that her application had been successful. However, she has now had her Arap visa paused while the British embassy awaits Home Office approval.

Another person who is waiting on a response to his Arap application was told by the MoD that he would need to go to the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get his children’s birth certificates and his marriage certificate validated.

Zehrah Hassan, advocacy director of the charity Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), condemned the backlog saying the “disgraceful Arap figures reveal our government has slammed the door shut on vulnerable Afghans”.

“People who have already risked their lives – working as interpreters, teachers and aid workers – will now face the impossible choice of risking persecution in Afghanistan, or making their own perilous journeys here and facing criminalisation,” she added.

Mark Davies, head of campaigns at the Refugee Council, said: “It is unacceptable that so many Afghans are caught in the backlog of applications to the Arap programme, leaving them desperately unsafe in Afghanistan.”

Conservative MP John Baron is calling on the government to ensure that former British Council workers and their families in Afghanistan are brought to safety in the UK.

Xural.com