LONDON: A group of military chiefs and MPs in the UK have called on the government in an open letter to meet its “debt of honor” and safeguard Afghan refugees, The Independent reported.
The letter to the prime minister, signed by figures including former British Army chief, Gen. Richard Dannatt, and ex-NATO secretary-general, George Robertson, described Afghans being left stranded in dangerous circumstances as a “disgrace.”
It followed reports that almost 2,000 Afghans who were eligible for relocation to the UK had been abandoned in hotels throughout Pakistan after fleeing their homeland following the Taliban takeover.
The UK government, despite relocating more than 1,000 Afghans from Pakistan last year, has since quietly wound down the scheme, with only six people having been moved to Britain from the country since December.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must take control over the situation, the open letter urged, adding that thousands of Afghans, who previously served alongside British forces, had been forgotten and abandoned.
MP Dan Jarvis, a former army officer who served in Afghanistan, told The Independent: “I think Afghanistan is very much in the rear-view mirror and there isn’t the political will to honor the commitments that were made previously.
“These are not economic migrants; these are not people who just want to leave Afghanistan for a better life. These are people who are and will be murdered by the Taliban if they do not get to a place of safety.
“These are people who risked their lives to serve alongside us in support of our mission, at our request, and to whom the UK prime minister made a commitment to shift heaven and earth to get them to a place of safety.”
Since the Taliban takeover, 21,387 people have been relocated to the UK through the Afghan relocations and assistance policy.
But the letter warned that delays in the scheme had created a “bottleneck” in Pakistan, with almost 2,000 Afghans remaining “in limbo” in the country, awaiting the final green light to relocate to the UK.
The issue of Afghans being housed in British hotels was also a sensitive issue for the government, with ministers keen to move existing refugees to conventional housing before accepting new Afghan arrivals.
Those still trapped in Afghanistan were in a “desperate” situation, the open letter said.
“Some have been there for a year, and they are facing a second year. They believe that the British government is working to enable them to start their new lives in the UK. They are mistaken.
“These are people who have passed the rigorous tests. They have risked their lives, alongside our own service men and women, to support the UK’s objectives in Afghanistan.
“It is inconceivable that we should renege on our debt of honor and forget them.”
Senior military figures who have attempted to pressure the government over its obligations to Afghans described a “chaotic situation” in Westminster, in which several departments had abdicated responsibility for resolving the matter.
The government appeared to be “quite happy for this issue to be forgotten and swept under the carpet,” said one signatory to the letter.