Boris Johnson is coming under pressure from his own MPs to urgently set up a new resettlement scheme for Afghan refugees, amid fears that people with links to the west and high-profile women will be targeted by the Taliban. Damian Green, the former cabinet minister, led Conservative calls for the UK to allow refugees safe passage to Britain, while Labour leader Keir Starmer and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon pressed for a programme to accommodate them. “There are times and places where we should be strict with asylum applications. Afghanistan today is the exact opposite. We should take anyone who can make a case,” Green said.
While Canada has said it will take 20,000 Afghan refugees and the US appears likely to resettle up to 30,000, the UK only has a scheme for Afghans that have been employed by the military and embassy, such as interpreters, with about 2,000 settled so far. A Home Office source said a new scheme was “in the works” but details were still being worked out. It is understood the programme could be similar in scale to the scheme for Syrian refugees, which took in 20,000 people over five years. Calls on the prime minister to act with haste came from Tory MPs as well as the opposition, with passage out of Afghanistan becoming increasingly difficult even for those who are eligible to be evacuated and resettled. John Baron, the only Conservative MP to have opposed the war in Afghanistan, said: “In addition to getting our nationals out safely, the international community must now stand by those fleeing the country in fear of their lives, including those who helped British forces. “As a country, we need to do our bit to reach out and welcome the refugees and asylum seekers. The priority now is to save lives.” Caroline Nokes, the Conservative chair of the women and equalities committee, called for “specific resettlement schemes to help civic leaders in Afghanistan to safety,” highlighting the story of Afghanistan’s first female mayor who said she was waiting for the Taliban to come and kill her. Speaking on a visit to Wolverhampton, Starmer urged the prime minister to “step up to the plate and show some leadership, some urgency”. He added that the UN had to make “an assertion of the human rights of everyone in Afghanistan … particularly women and girls” and reach “an agreement on safe and legal routes for refugees”. Johnson said on Sunday that the UK had already provided safe haven to almost 2,000 people. His comments referred to the Afghan relocation and assistance programme that applies to military and embassy staff, which is run by the Ministry of Defence. Foreign Office sources said the figure was more like 4,400 Afghan nationals, including interpreters, who have been expatriated to the UK since April when the programme was launched. Hundreds more dual nationals have applied in the last week for emergency airlifting out of Kabul. There are concerns, however, that the scheme does not cover British Council staff or others at non-governmental organisations with links to the UK, let alone any wider claims by general members of the Afghan population who may be targeted by the Taliban. To claim asylum in the UK under the main Home Office route, people must have left their country and be unable to go back because they fear persecution. But it is difficult for people to leave Afghanistan under Taliban control, unless people are already within the perimeter of Kabul airport. Tobias Ellwood, the chair of the Commons defence committee, said: “The numbers of genuine people now under Taliban threat, those connected with the coalition, women with academic qualification, female teachers, will all be pursued. That is going to cause the biggest asylum challenge we’ve seen in a long time. We think we have a problem with Dover now – just wait for the next few months.” Several legal bodies – the Bar Council, the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, and the Law Society of England and Wales – called on the government to play a part in evacuating Afghans working in the justice system, particularly 250 female judges. “We urge the UK government not to abandon these courageous defenders of the rule of law and – in liaison with its international allies – to offer evacuation and safety and asylum in the UK to those women judges, their families, and other members of the legal profession who are in serious danger.” A Downing Street spokesperson said the government was “bringing together the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis emerging in Afghanistan”, adding that it was in “everyone’s interest not to let Afghanistan fail”. “That means providing whatever support we can to the Afghan people who have worked so hard to make the country a better place over the last 20 years and who are now in need of our help,” they said. The resettlement scheme, which is expected in the coming days, will focus on Afghans in the greatest need.