Promised safe haven, our Afghan allies are trapped out in the cold

Editorial: After The Independent revealed that just two out of 1,000 Afghans offered refuge by the UK but stranded in Pakistan have been brought to safety in the past three months, we must ask why this country has let down those it promised to help again and again

Even by the standards of merciful treatment that should be applied to all refugees, Britain’s approach is inhumane, verging on callous (PA)

It is now almost two years since the chaotic evacuation of British forces from Afghanistan, and the subsequent launch of “Operation Warm Welcome”, which was designed to ensure that those Afghan nationals who had fought with British forces and worked with other UK organisations during the long and pitiless conflict would be swiftly granted asylum and generous practical help under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap).

It has not proved, in practice, to be a very warm welcome.

Although some early arrivals have been given places to stay in the UK, only two Afghans promised safe haven by the British army have been brought over from Pakistan in the three months from March to May, The Independent has revealed. The remainder of the 1,000 Afghans still in limbo and waiting for evacuation to the UK are “living like prisoners”, according to one of their number, and facing deportation to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Their fate once there may be easily surmised.

In an uncomfortable, and ironic, echo of current British government attitudes, Pakistan is now cracking down on refugees. Some 175 immigrants – mainly Afghans – have been detained and imprisoned. Earlier this year, more than 600 people were sent back to Afghanistan. Time is once again running out for Afghan nationals who put their lives on the line by working for the crown.

It seems hard to believe that incompetence and betrayal on this scale is being perpetrated even by a government as capable of incompetence as our current one is known to be, but that is the grim, painful, shameful reality. Back in 2021, the Arap initiative was welcomed by all, including those usually most hostile to immigration of any sort, as a proud symbol of Britain’s readiness to help those in genuine need of refuge, and as a matter of national honour.

Former Conservative minister and Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe said the situation was “a scandal”: “We had years to bring the interpreters over, and we left everything until the last minute. We then encouraged people to cross into Pakistan, and we’ve now stopped running evacuation flights from there. We’ve just abandoned them.”

It is a considerable failure. Boris Johnson, who was then prime minister, declared at the time that “we owe an immense debt to those who worked with the armed forces in Afghanistan”, saying he was “determined that we give them and their families the support they need to rebuild their lives here in the UK.” He continued: “I know this will be an incredibly daunting time, but I hope they will take heart from the wave of support and generosity already expressed by the British public.”

The idea was that those covered by the Arap scheme would receive the vital support they needed to find work, pursue education, and integrate into their local communities. It was, in principle, admirable, though it has not been implemented with sufficient flexibility, as demonstrated by the case of the Afghan pilot who has been refused asylum. He is the subject of a continuing campaign for justice led by The Independent.

Yet, as we see, even those automatically eligible for resettlement in Britain have been unforgivably let down. It is an excruciating tale, and a heartbreaking one. As with the former pilot of the Afghan air force, now living with an uncertain future in Britain, these people stuck in Islamabad seem to be subject to baffling proceduralism, when what is needed is for those at the top of government to slice through the Gordian knots and get them on a plane – “action this day”, as Churchill used to say.

Instead, they are trapped in Pakistani hotels under an unfriendly, impatient government, and in despair. It is absurd and callous to leave them to try to book private accommodation for themselves in Britain from so far away and with so little money of their own. Yet the government has told the Afghans that they will only be transferred if they can first prove that they have somewhere to live in the UK and can show they have the funds to support themselves.

Even by the standards of merciful treatment that should be applied to all refugees, that is inhumane, verging on callous. To do this to people who will otherwise be executed for helping Britain fight its war is beyond appalling. There would be an outcry and ministerial resignations if Sherpa ex-service personnel were abandoned like this.

The majority of “our” Afghans in Pakistan are eligible for relocation under Arap, which was set up to support Afghans employed by the British army, and yet more qualify for resettlement because they were employed as British embassy guards or British Council workers, or were on Foreign Office Chevening scholarships for leadership roles. Yet, for all their loyalty, they are left behind.

As for Britain’s international leadership and reputation, things have not been going well, despite our early and bold support for Ukraine in its fight for freedom. Brexit has demonstrably shrunk our power and influence with the United States, for example, and in recent days our commitment to tackling climate change has been called into question by the chair of the independent Climate Change Committee among others. Senior Conservative parliamentarians are openly calling for Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, and the courts have ruled the Rwanda refugee deportation plan unlawful.

At least with the Arap scheme, Britain can do the right thing, and the government need not worry about looking weak on migration because the scheme commands such widespread public support. There is, in reality, nothing lacking except political willpower: it needs action this day.