Rishi Sunak’s authorities has been condemned over its failure to convey 1000’s of Afghans who labored with British forces to security within the UK regardless of repeated guarantees to take action.
Labour’s shadow defence secretary slammed the mismanagement of the federal government’s Afghan resettlement schemes as “one of the most comprehensive failures of ministerial leadership and competence in recent times”.
In a stinging letter to defence secretary Grant Shapps, John Healey urged his counterpart to “take a long hard look” at how the Ministry of Defence has been operating the programme.
His intervention comes after a latest exposé by this newspaper in collaboration with investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports and Sky News discovered that dozens of former Afghan particular forces troopers, who had been educated and paid by the British, have been tortured or killed by the Taliban for the reason that West’s withdrawal in August 2021.
Members of two military items referred to as “the Triples” have been rejected for relocation to the UK on the idea that they didn’t serve intently with the British. In truth, they served in such shut partnership that members acquired a wage immediately from the UK authorities, the investigation revealed.
In the letter seen by The Independent, Mr Healey has requested Mr Shapps to “confirm the reasons behind the reported decision not to grant Afghan Special Forces personnel, who were trained and funded by the UK, eligibility for relocation to the UK under the Arap scheme”. The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) is for Afghan residents who labored “for or with the UK government in Afghanistan in exposed or meaningful roles”, the federal government web site states.
Mr Healey mentioned he was “deeply concerned” in regards to the “shameful saga of MoD failure on Arap since the scheme was launched in April 2021”.
He has requested Mr Shapps to offer solutions to quite a lot of questions, together with whether or not ministers have met their very own goal of clearing the backlog of Arap purposes by August.
He additionally quizzed Mr Shapps on why his division stopped constitution flights from Pakistan to the UK for these Afghans who had been discovered eligible for the MoD’s resettlement scheme. Some 3,000 Afghans are nonetheless caught in Pakistan in UK-funded inns ready on relocation to Britain.
Many have been there for over a yr and efforts have solely been made to switch them to the UK in latest weeks after Mr Sunak’s authorities was taken to court docket over the delays. The High Court heard that the prime minister had halted using inns for Afghans coming to the UK in late November 2022 in a bid to economize.
The determination prompted the MoD to cease flights bringing individuals to the UK from Pakistan – leaving them liable to arrest and deportation again to Afghanistan. Risk assessments from diplomats present that the UK authorities was suggested that these awaiting relocation to the UK couldn’t be totally protected against arrest, after the Pakistani authorities introduced a crackdown on undocumented refugees within the nation.
Diplomats in Iran additionally suggested ministers that Afghans primarily based there have been additionally liable to deportation. Following the court docket problem, the goverment restarted chartered flights – with two arriving in latest weeks.
Mr Healey additionally requested for Mr Shapps to ensure that his division had stopped instructing candidates to the Arap scheme to get paperwork authorized by Taliban-run ministries.
Noting the professionalism proven by the UK forces who took half within the Afghan evacuation in August 2021, Mr Healey mentioned the duty to Britain’s Afghan allies was “felt most fiercely by the UK forces personnel who served in Afghanistan”.
He added: “The government’s mismanagement of the MoD Arap scheme – and its sister Home Office ACRS scheme – is one of the most comprehensive failures of ministerial leadership and competence in recent times.”
An MoD spokesperson mentioned: “We have given an unprecedented level of commitment and support to help eligible people in Afghanistan. So far, we have brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.
“We have never issued blanket decisions on applications from any cohort who have applied to the Arap scheme. All eligibility decisions are made on a case-by-case basis in line with the Arap policy and the immigration rules.”
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk