Ministers were shamefully slow in giving asylum to an Afghan war hero – they have much more to do

Editorial: The foot dragging, obfuscation and buck passing seen in this case begs the question: will the Sunak government act differently next time?

The pilot crossed the Channel in a small boat but had no other way of getting to the UK, having been rejected under the government’s relocation schemes (The Independent )

It is a stain on the government that it took a campaign by The Independent lasting five long months before the Home Office came to its senses and granted asylum to the Afghan war hero who fought alongside coalition forces against the Taliban.

Worryingly, it seems that the breakthrough happened partly because the government was shamed into doing what was so obviously right because the United States was considering offering the pilot sanctuary. That would have been an embarrassment too far, even for an administration in London that put political expediency – and its unworkable and inhumane proposal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda – above the country’s honourable tradition of helping people from around the globe flee persecution.

The British public do want to see firm control of illegal immigration, but the opinion polls also show they want a compassionate system – in summary, a “firm but fair” one. Until very late in the day, Rishi Sunak’s government displayed a marked lack of compassion.

The pilot crossed the Channel in a small boat with no other way of getting to the UK, having been rejected under the government’s relocation schemes. It is clear that he would still be languishing in a hotel and facing the threat of deportation to Rwanda, if The Independent had not taken up his case.

Even when we did, we were repeatedly told by people at the highest level of government that we were in effect wasting our time. Shamefully, a letter by the pilot to Mr Sunak went unanswered. We persisted and the Home Office eventually concluded what should have been crystal clear to them much earlier: that the pilot fears being “persecuted”, and that these fears are “well founded”.

Our campaign was for the most part a lonely one and our persistence is a reminder of the power of journalism to do good.

The decision, while welcome, is not the end of the matter; the government cannot wash its hands of the pilot. Not least while his wife and young family remain in hiding in Afghanistan.

They should now be fast-tracked for relocation so they can join him in Britain; they have suffered enough trauma and should not have to wait another 12 months, as many such cases take.

The war hero is now allowed to work and study in the UK but has only 28 days to find somewhere to live. If he is classed as homeless, he could miss out on state benefits. That should not be allowed to happen.

The shameful foot dragging, obfuscation and buck passing seen in this case begs the question: will the Sunak government act any differently when approaching these issues? It is not an idle question: immigration statistics published on Thursday show that the number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats from Afghanistan in the 12 months to June is the second highest from any country after Albania. It has probably become the highest number this year after the UK’s agreement on returning people to Albania.

Only 233 Afghans came to the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) in the 12 months to June. This “safe and legal route” from Afghanistan, repeatedly cited by UK ministers, is a mirage: the majority of the almost 10,000 Afghans who sought sanctuary in the UK decided to risk the perilous journey across the Channel.

The ACRS should be expanded so the government lives up to its original pledge of 20,000 places. So far, only 6,435 Afghans have been given indefinite leave to remain in the UK under the programme. It should be adequately funded and include a clear process for uniting families – like the pilot’s.

Nor will we ignore the plight of the more than 11,000 people from places such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iran waiting to join family members in the UK. Or the scandal of the almost 2,000 Afghans stranded in hotels in Pakistan, two years after the fall of Kabul.

The Independent will not forget them; nor should UK ministers.