Our Afghanistan refugee resettlement scheme requires a collective effort

The UK’s resettlement programme can and should be ambitious, but every council must do their part for it to work, writes Jordan Tyldesley

The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham (Getty)

One of the more depressing aspects of modern society is our committed reluctance to listen to others, or rather, understand their viewpoint. So devoted are we to being “right” and “good” that we often shy away from simply discussing uncomfortable and important subjects. But over the coming weeks the Afghan resettlement programme must prove to be the exception.

Northern constituents’ apprehensions concerning the prolonged uneven distribution of refugees and asylum seekers within our towns and cities must be understood and heard. What’s more, this government strategy has to change.

Since 2001, the conflict in Afghanistan has been ever present but decidedly distant for those privileged enough to be able to ignore it. A soundbite here or there and a passing comment regarding a location that some of us will never visit – let alone be able to point to on a map. But the Taliban takeover has opened up old wounds.

Our pride is in tatters and our global purpose in the air. Abroad, Afghan citizens are living in fear, desperation and distress as they await an uncertain future. We undoubtedly have a moral obligation to offer refuge both to those that have worked alongside our western forces and the people facing real, imminent danger. This is unquestionably a substantial number.

The government has pledged to welcome 20,000 Afghan refugees into the UK with a target of 5,000 this year. Leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer tweeted that it “doesn’t meet the scale of the crisis” and stated within the Commons that the numbers seem to have been “plucked from thin air”.

Whilst I am inclined to agree, I find it frustrating that he has yet to acknowledge the north-south disparity in the asylum system. Of course, the Left struggles with this line of discourse, but sweeping this fact under the carpet won’t make it go away. Instead, it simply reeks of metropolitan dismissal. We need to apply pressure to the government and across local councils, to guarantee that the resettlement scheme will be a shared effort.

Indeed, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, was quick to state that whilst the region will welcome refugees, the resettlement scheme “does need to be fair to places like Greater Manchester”. This is not controversial, it is a reasonable and considered request, but it often feels like many are wary of mentioning it. Burnham also suggested: “We want to do everything we can: we’re here and we’ve always helped – in fact more than other areas across the country. But we’ve got to do it on a fair basis that’s worked out between us and the Home Office.”

This is not just a case of council nimbyism. Many southern counties do volunteer under the refugee dispersal scheme but unfortunately the private companies contracted to manage this programme are given budgets that would not procure accommodation anywhere but in some of the poorest areas of our country.

A recent Guardian analysis found that “almost one in four of the UK’s 44,825 asylum seekers supported by the Home Office are housed in just 10 local authorities, nine of which are among the most deprived in the UK”. In addition, only one of the top 10 is in the south of England. One startling statistic shows that in 2016, the town of Bolton took more than a third of all refugees who arrived in the entire UK.

In recent weeks, more than 1,000 Afghan refugees have been accommodated in Manchester hotels and this seismic imbalance is made all the more shocking when figures show that on a global level, as of 31 July, the US had only admitted 494 refugees for the fiscal year of 2021.

So why does this matter to us? A recent study by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) reveals that residents in the northwest of England can expect to wait an average of 39 years for council housing because of pressures on supply. Our services have been stretched to within an inch of their lives and we’re tired of not being able to have this conversation. Yes, a lack of community investment from the current government is a problem but the scarcity of resources, coupled with a high volume of new residents, does cause competition. We shouldn’t have to pretend this isn’t the case.

Our resettlement programme can and should be ambitious, but every council must do their part for it to work. If this doesn’t happen, the north-south divide will grow even larger. Presumably, the last thing Westminster needs is more red wall distrust and disillusionment.