New Delhi/London, Aug 18 (UNI) The Boris Johnson government has announced a resettlement plan for thousands of Afghan people wanting to flee their country following the Taliban takeover, with 5,000 people to be taken in the first year and their number going up to 20,000 in the long term.
In a press release, the UK High Commission in Delhi said thousands of Afghans women, children and others, who are most in need, will be welcomed to the UK.
It said those who have fled or been forced to flee their homes or face threats of persecution from the Taliban will be offered a route to set up residence in the UK permanently.
"The UK Government’s ambition is for the new Afghanistan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme to resettle 5,000 Afghan nationals who are at risk due to the current crisis, in its first year.
"Priority will be given to women and girls, and religious and other minorities, who are most at risk of human rights abuses and dehumanising treatment by the Taliban," it said.
The resettlement scheme will be kept under further review in future, with up to a total of 20,000 in the long term.
It said there will be significant challenges delivering the scheme, but the Government is working at speed to address these obstacles.
The Government will work with stakeholders, including devolved administrations and local councils, to ensure that Afghans who will be rebuilding their lives in the UK have the support they need.
The new scheme is separate from, and in addition to, the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which offers any current or former locally employed staff who are assessed to be under serious threat to life priority relocation to the UK.
Some 5,000 former Afghan staff and their family members are expected to be relocated to the UK by the end of this year under ARAP.
The UK Government is currently working at pace to evacuate British nationals, their families and former Afghan staff from Afghanistan. Since Saturday 520 British nationals, diplomats and former Afghan staff have left Afghanistan on UK military flights, it said.
On Tuesday, Home Secretary Priti Patel chaired an emergency meeting on Afghanistan with her counterparts from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US.
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