UK shame as Pakistani police storm hotel and arrest Afghans promised sanctuary in Britain
Afghans promised safe haven in Britain but trapped in Pakistan have been arrested by police amid fears refugees could be returned to the Taliban, The Independent can reveal.
Hundreds of Afghan families, many of whom worked for the British army, have been stranded in Islamabad for months after the UK stopped chartering flights last year and demanded refugees find their own housing in Britain before travelling. The families were invited to come to Islamabad and were put up in UK government-paid hotels after they were found eligible for Britain’s resettlement schemes.
Stuck in limbo with expired visas, the Pakistani police targeted these groups this week, arresting several. The Afghans were only saved when the British High Commission (BHC) on the ground intervened. Those still trying to get to the UK say they are terrified the same thing will happen again and that they will be deported back to Taliban-run Afghanistan.
Military chiefs, MPs and charities hit out at the news, accusing the UK of ignoring those who helped us in our fight against the Taliban.
General Sir John McColl, the army’s former deputy supreme Nato commander for Europe who served in Afghanistan, told The Independent the “deaf government” wanted to ignore the issue, adding the Afghan allies were “out of sight and out of mind”. Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey said it was “unacceptable” that these Afghans had been waiting so long they now risked arrest by the Pakistan authorities.
Comments
We cannot both claim that we have asserted control over our own borders, and whine about France not doing our job for us well enough.
Afghans promised safe haven in Britain but trapped in Pakistan have been arrested by police amid fears refugees could be returned to the Taliban, The Independent can reveal.
Hundreds of Afghan families, many of whom worked for the British army, have been stranded in Islamabad for months after the UK stopped chartering flights last year and demanded refugees find their own housing in Britain before travelling. The families were invited to come to Islamabad and were put up in UK government-paid hotels after they were found eligible for Britain’s resettlement schemes.
Stuck in limbo with expired visas, the Pakistani police targeted these groups this week, arresting several. The Afghans were only saved when the British High Commission (BHC) on the ground intervened. Those still trying to get to the UK say they are terrified the same thing will happen again and that they will be deported back to Taliban-run Afghanistan.
Military chiefs, MPs and charities hit out at the news, accusing the UK of ignoring those who helped us in our fight against the Taliban.
General Sir John McColl, the army’s former deputy supreme Nato commander for Europe who served in Afghanistan, told The Independent the “deaf government” wanted to ignore the issue, adding the Afghan allies were “out of sight and out of mind”. Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey said it was “unacceptable” that these Afghans had been waiting so long they now risked arrest by the Pakistan authorities.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/uk-shame-pakistani-police-storm-171607434.html
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