New Delhi: Britain on Tuesday announced a resettlement scheme for Afghan people who left the country as the Taliban return. The announcement came on the eve of an extraordinary session of parliament on Wednesday, where MPs recalled from holiday will discuss the collapse of the Afghan government, so soon after the withdrawal of Western forces.
According to the media report, Some 900 British troops have been sent back to the Afghan capital to help repatriate thousands of UK nationals, including embassy staff.
The London government said that “London said priority would be given to those most at risk, including Afghan women, children and others forced to flee or facing threats and persecution from the hardliners, offering them a chance to remain in Britain indefinitely.”
The Home Office in a statement said that “This resettlement scheme will be kept under further review for future years, with up to a total of 20,000 in the long term. The scheme is modeled on that which resettled 20,000 refugees from the Syria conflict from 2014 to this year.”
Britain was one of the United States’ staunchest allies in president George W. Bush’s “war on terror”, launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. In the restive southern Afghan province of Helmand, Britain had 9,500 personnel and 137 bases alone. And its involvement came at a cost, with more than 450 troops killed.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants an urgent meeting of G7 leaders to prevent Afghanistan from spiraling into a humanitarian disaster, calling for a “unified approach”, and ramped-up aid funding. “We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have worked with us to make Afghanistan a better place over the last 20 years. Many of them, particularly women, are now in urgent need of our help.” PM Johnson said.
Since Saturday, the eve of the Taliban’s capture of Kabul, 520 British nationals, diplomats, and former Afghan staff have left Afghanistan on military flights, the Home Office said.
The Canadian government on Friday announced that it will resettle 20,000 vulnerable Afghans facing threats from the Taliban and being forced to flee as the Taliban edges closer to assuming total control of Afghanistan.
The Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) stated that the government is deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and assured that its teams across the world are working “around the clock to bring as many people as possible.” IRCC also said that its special immigration program has already brought many Afghans to Canada and that it will continue to use this program for Afghans who contributed to Canada’s efforts in Afghanistan.