UK Government Announce Bespoke Resettlement Scheme Route for Afghan Refugees

The UK Government announced yesterday a special resettlement route for Afghan refugees following the situation currently developing in Afghanistan.

The announcement comes as the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US forces that occupied the nation for nearly 20 years.

The UK Government has promised to resettle up to 20,000 Afghan refugees, with as many as 5,000 in the first year. The Home Office adds: “Priority will be given to women and girls, and religious and other minorities, who are most at risk of human right abuses and dehumanising treatment by the Taliban.”

The Taliban have notoriously persecuted women in controlled regions, especially those under high-profile employment. According to some reports, women and young girls in education have been forced to go home and stay home as part of a patriarchal ideology that careers are only for men. Girls as young as 12 years old have been captured for arranged marriages with Taliban fighters.

The BBC reported yesterday that UK troops are currently evacuating British nationals and eligible Afghans after the Taliban seized control of the capital. So far, 306 UK nationals and 2,052 Afghans have been evacuated according to No 10.

The resettlement scheme is said to have ongoing reviews, with up to a total of 20,000 refugees coming to the UK over several years. The new route will be modelled on the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme, which resettled 20,000 Syrian refugees between 2014 and 2021.

The new scheme will look to ensure that Afghans who will be rebuilding their lives in the UK will have the support they need from local administrations and councils.

How will the resettlement scheme work in practice?

It is currently under review as to how the scheme will actually work. Details of the previous policy have been removed from the Home Office website, while new guidance is underway.

The new route is set to be different from but in addition to, the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which will offer any current or former employed state staff who are under serious threat to life, a priority to be relocated in the UK. It is said that 5,000 former Afghan staff and their families are expected to be relocated to the UK by end of this year under the new policy.

Once guidance has been updated by the Home Office, Immigration Lawyers can begin work on opening applications for entry clearance.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has welcomed the scheme but has said that further details are needed before the scheme can take effect. The UK Government have admitted that delivering the scheme will face significant challenges, but that they are ‘working at speed to address these obstacles.’

This article will be updated following further developments. 

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