about British Refugees:
Victoria Atkins, the British Minister for Afghan Resettlement in Britain, today “officially” announced in Parliament the start of the program for the reception of 20,000 Afghan refugees over the next five years, urging local councils to help build a “bright future for Afghan friends”. They have come to this country, let’s build.
He stressed that the admission of this number is in addition to the Afghan colleagues in Britain, whose 7,000 people have been helped to leave the country.
He said Britain was one of the “most generous” countries in accepting vulnerable Afghans.
The plan, he said, is to provide a “safe and legal way” for these people.
He said that in September we announced that 5,000 people would be accepted in the first year of the resettlement plan, which would be completed, he explained the priorities and the three sections of people referred to the plan.
The first group includes people who have previously been brought to Britain from Afghanistan, including women’s rights defenders, journalists and prosecutors, and Afghans who are the families of British citizens.
These people have been given permanent residence.
He said that this year we will open two new sections within the framework of this plan; The second group from this spring is those who left Afghanistan and were introduced by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The third group is Afghan-British partners and international organizations and individuals at particular risk, including minorities and girls and women.
In the first year, the Chiung Scholarship graduates are British Council and contract staff. British embassies contact these undocumented persons.
Atkins said that after the first year, in coordination with partners and other international institutions, we will further develop the admission program for the third group.
However, he emphasized that the UK’s admission capacity was not “unlimited” and that we had to make difficult decisions about our priorities.
“We clearly call on other countries to join this ambitious British-led initiative,” said the British Minister for Resettlement of Afghans in Britain.
In addition to the plan, he said, Britain, as head of the Group of Seven, had allocated ۶ 286 million in vital humanitarian aid to Afghanistan this winter.
In the past four months, he said, 10 ministries, local governments, and 350 British local councils, in addition to charities and NGOs, have been working to start a new life for them in Britain.
He said 12,000 people were provided with “immediate temporary accommodation” for health care, food and education.
More than 4,000 people have either moved into permanent homes or are moving, which he says is “unprecedented.”
He said all the children brought to Britain have now gone to school.
Last week, the London-based Guardian reported that “more than 12,000 Afghans had been evacuated” in Britain for about four months, staying in temporary hotels and waiting for permanent accommodation.
“With the help of local councils, we are developing a plan to reintegrate these people into the community so that they can become self-reliant as soon as they enter the job market,” said the British Minister for Resettlement of Afghans in Britain.
Britain has evacuated and resettled 15,000 people “immediately” after the unrest in Afghanistan, making it the second-largest after the United States.
“Our priority during the so-called ‘patting’ evacuation of Kabul was to rescue as many people as possible,” he said.
The evacuees included British troops, British citizens, and people at risk.
About 1,500 more people have fled the country since the evacuation in late August, including women judges, human rights defenders, and members of sexual minorities.
Source BBC Persian
