LONDON: Thousands of Afghans qualified to reside in the UK are still waiting for relocation two years after their country fell to the Taliban, with a recent surge in the number of requests denied bringing censure from prominent politicians and military officials.
At least 18,000 Afghans who helped with British soldiers have had their Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy applications denied, while 3,400 persons whose applications were granted are still detained in Afghanistan or neighboring Pakistan. Since December 2022, only 35 persons have been moved to the United Kingdom.
Ministers declared the UK would “shift Heaven and Earth” in 2021 to relocate vulnerable Afghan allies to the UK.
According to the Independent, the Ministry of Defence has accelerated application processing in order to remove the backlog by the end of August.
Only 3,527 of the 141,000 applications received by the MoD since the scheme’s inception have been granted. The report said that between the fall of Kabul and June 21 of this year, 36,000 ARAP applications were denied, but that in the eight weeks since then, the amount has climbed to nearly 69,000.
Source: Arab News
