Babak Belurs

Selasa, 31 Agustus 2021

Afghan heroes who risked lives helping UK troops are given permission to live here indefinitely - Daily Mail

A welcome to make us proud: Relief as 10,000 Afghan heroes who risked their lives helping UK troops are given permission to live here indefinitely

Home Office said the status would be granted immediately to 10,000 refugees
Johnson said decision reflected 'immense debt' owed to those who helped UK
Policy has been codenamed Operation Warm Welcome and will be indefinite

By Jason Groves and David Williams for the Daily Mail

Published: 00:00 BST, 1 September 2021 | Updated: 01:24 BST, 1 September 2021

Thousands of Afghans who risked their lives to help British forces will be allowed to live and work indefinitely in the UK.

The Home Office last night said the coveted status would be granted immediately – and automatically – to around 10,000 refugees.

It will allow them to work and enrol their children in school as they try to build a new life here.

The decision fast-tracks a process that can take years and with only a limited right to remain.

Boris Johnson said the policy reflected the ‘immense debt’ owed to translators and others who had helped the UK military during the 20-year engagement.

Thousands of Afghans who risked their lives to help British forces will be allowed to live and work indefinitely in the UK. Pictured: Afghan refugees arrive at Heathrow Airport, London

The Home Office said the coveted status would be granted immediately – and automatically – to around 10,000 refugees. Pictured: Afghan refugees arriving into Heathrow last week

A Whitehall source said that the package, codenamed Operation Warm Welcome, was ‘the least we could do’ following the chaotic and bloody withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Ministers are still however under pressure to do more to help hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Afghans now in hiding from Taliban reprisals for helping British troops.

Its leaders have claimed they will not seek revenge but militants yesterday raided the homes of former translators in Kabul.

Former interpreters told the Mail they were living in fear for their lives after failing to secure a place among the 10,000 flown to Britain.

A 35-year-old who has qualified for relocation to the UK said: ‘No one believes the Taliban’s words of forgiveness. We helped the British kill and capture their men.

‘We provided the intelligence to fight against them. We questioned their captured and injured – so it is simple that they will want revenge.’

Refugees from Afghanistan arrive on a evacuation flight at Heathrow Airport on August 26

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab yesterday denied reports that more than 7,000 Afghans with links to UK forces had been left behind, but was unable to provide another figure.

He said the number of British citizens left in Afghanistan was in ‘the low hundreds’, following the evacuation of more than 15,000 people in the second half of August.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said around 300 Afghans granted refuge in the UK had been left behind, along with 700 relatives.

Normally, asylum seekers are banned from working while their claims are assessed. They are entitled to minimal financial support if they would ‘otherwise be destitute’.

Permission to work may be granted only if their claim has not been processed within a year through no fault of their own.

If they are eventually granted leave to remain it is typically capped at five years.

Dominic Raab (pictured with Borish Johnson) denied reports that more than 7,000 Afghans with links to UK forces had been left behind but was unable to provide another figure

By contrast, those who have served British forces will immediately be granted indefinite leave to remain, which brings with it the right to work and the option to apply for British citizenship.

Those eligible under the Afghanistan Relocations and Assistance Policy will also be eligible for immediate access to NHS services.

Councils have been offered a modest £5million to help with housing. Officials said they were working with more than 100 town halls and had so far found accommodation for more than 2,000 people.

Councils will be given an extra £12million to provide additional school places for Afghan children and further funding will be provided to create 300 university places.

Arrivals from Afghanistan will also be offered the Covid vaccine and given access to a portal where members of the public will be able to share offers of work and housing and make donations.

A Whitehall source last night told the Mail the package was ‘likely’ to be extended to 20,000 Afghans expected to come under a wider resettlement scheme – but this has not been decided.

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2021-08-31 23:00:06Z
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Afghanistan: UK in talks with Taliban to ensure Britons get safe passage out of country - Sky News

The UK is in talks with the Taliban to ensure Britons can safely leave Afghanistan, the government has said.

Its special representative for Afghan transition, Sir Simon Gass, has met senior members of the hardline Islamist group in Doha, Qatar.

They also discussed safe passage for Afghans who have worked with the UK over the last 20 years.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The prime minister's special representative for Afghan transition, Simon Gass, has travelled to Doha and is meeting with senior Taliban representatives to underline the importance of safe passage out of Afghanistan for British nationals, and those Afghans who have worked with us over the past 20 years."

It comes as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab admitted it will be a "challenge" for Britons left in Afghanistan to find a route to the UK.

He told Sky News the number of Britons who had not been flown out as part of the now-finished UK evacuation was in the "low hundreds".

Mr Raab acknowledged it was "unclear" when the airport in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, would operate again and advised those who still sought to leave the country to find a route to the UK via neighbouring countries.

More than 17,000 British nationals, Afghans who worked with the UK, and other vulnerable people, have been evacuated from the country since April, the foreign secretary said.

Of the UK nationals remaining in Afghanistan, Mr Raab said: "Most of those are difficult cases where it's not clear around eligibility because they're undocumented.

"We've now put in place the arrangements with third countries, or we're putting them in place.

"I've spoken to some of the key third countries, so have other ministers, to make sure we can have a workable route through for those outstanding cases."

Asked whether his advice for those UK nationals still in Afghanistan would be for them to head across one of the country's borders, Mr Raab added: "It depends if they are eligible or not and, of course, we're in contact with them to be able to establish that.

"That's made more difficult because we don't have the base at the airport.

"Certainly if they're eligible British nationals, there are embassies in those third countries - whether it's Pakistan or one of the stans."

Mr Raab said the UK would hold the Taliban to its "explicit assurances" that it "must allow safe passage not just for our nationals but other Afghans, particularly vulnerable ones, who wish to leave".

He also said there was "a degree of scepticism" about the group's "capacity" to run Kabul's airport "safely".

"We know that some countries are trying to help them with that effectively functional capacity," he said.

"Of course the previous government had air traffic controllers and things like that. But at what stage that will be ready and viable for international travel, at this point, is unclear."

He added: "What support they get and how quickly they can then salvage a functional operational capacity remains to be seen.

"Which is why we're making sure - working with those third countries, working with our embassies - that, actually, if people can get to the border, we can process those cases."

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2021-08-31 21:00:00Z
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Afghanistan: Dominic Raab blames Ministry of Defence over 'clearly wrong' intelligence - The Times

Downing Street has insisted that Boris Johnson has “full confidence” in Dominic Raab as the foreign secretary blamed military intelligence failures for the west’s humiliation in Kabul.

As internal government recriminations intensified, Raab pointed the finger at the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office as he appeared to question the entire basis of Britain’s 20-year Afghan campaign.

Raab said that the military predictions about the speed of the Taliban takeover were “clearly wrong” and that Britain had not been “realistic” over 20 years about its ability to nation-build in Afghanistan.

Government briefings have suggested that Raab will be sacked over Britain’s chaotic departure from Afghanistan, but he dismissed anonymous critics today as “lacking in any credibility whatsoever”.

Johnson’s spokesman said that there were “no

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2021-08-31 16:00:00Z
52781851698615

Dominic Raab: Number of Brits left in Afghanistan in 'low hundreds' - Daily Mail

Dominic Raab says the number of Brits left behind in Afghanistan is in the 'low hundreds' amid claims 9,000 British allies may be stranded

Dominic Raab said number of British nationals in Afghanistan in 'low hundreds'
He said the UK had brought home 5,000 British nationals since April this year
However, it remains unclear how many UK allies have been left behind in Kabul

By Jack Maidment, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline

Published: 16:23 BST, 31 August 2021 | Updated: 17:31 BST, 31 August 2021

The number of British nationals left behind in Afghanistan is in the 'low hundreds', the Foreign Secretary said today.

Dominic Raab said the number of Brits still in the country is 'now down at a very low level' after 5,000 were brought home since April this year.

However, it remains unclear how many Afghan citizens who worked for the British Government are stranded after the withdrawal of Western forces was completed.

Ministers had suggested last week that approximately 1,000 Afghans who were eligible to come to the UK may not make it out.

Dominic Raab said the number of Brits still in Afghanistan is 'now down at a very low level' after 5,000 were brought home since April this year

It remains unclear how many Afghan citizens who worked for the British Government are stranded after the withdrawal of Western forces was completed

But Whitehall sources told The Guardian that the figure could actually be about 9,000.

The Government has not given a concrete figure, with Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly saying yesterday that it was 'impossible' to put a number on how many people have been left behind.

Asked how many eligible people had been left in the country by the UK, Mr Raab told Sky News: 'Look, of course, we lament the fact that anyone will be left behind.

'I would just say that since April when we have been planning and instituting this, over 17,000 British nationals, Afghan workers, vulnerable special cases are out.

'I know that the number of UK nationals, the particular responsibility of the Foreign Office, is now down at a very low level.'

Asked if he could be more specific on how many British nationals were still in the country, he said: 'Well, low hundreds given that we have taken in total 5,000 out, and most of those are difficult cases where it is not clear around eligibility because they are undocumented.

'We have now put in place the arrangements with third countries, or we are putting them in place.

'I have spoken to some of the key third countries, so have other ministers, to make sure that we can make sure that we can have a workable route through for those outstanding cases.

He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'It's very difficult to give you a firm figure. I can tell you that for UK nationals we've secured since April over 5,000, and we're in the low hundreds (remaining).'

It is unclear how many of those British nationals who are still in the country have decided to stay of their own volition.

The Government has suggested that eligible people could cross into a third country next to Afghanistan in order to get to Britain now the airlift operation out of Kabul has ended.

But Mr Raab conceded that such journeys could be a 'challenge', telling Sky News: 'Well, that is a challenge which is why we are holding very squarely the Taliban to their explicit assurances, they have made them bilaterally to us, they have made them to other countries… that they must allow safe passage, not just for our nationals but other Afghans, particularly vulnerable ones, who wish to leave.'

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2021-08-31 15:23:09Z
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Safety of UK uncertain after Afghanistan withdrawal, Dominic Raab admits - ITV News

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2021-08-31 15:18:39Z
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Boris Johnson away from Downing Street for four-night break in west England - but 'continuing to work' - Sky News

Boris Johnson is spending this week away from Downing Street in the west of England with family - but Number 10 insisted he was "continuing to work" and declined to describe the trip as a holiday.

Following the conclusion of the UK's evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, Mr Johnson left Downing Street on Sunday and is due to return on Thursday.

"The prime minister is away for the next two days in the west of England but is continuing to work and will be back in the office in Downing Street on Thursday," Mr Johnson's official spokesman said on Tuesday.

"He left on Sunday, I believe."

Asked if the prime minister's four-night trip constituted a holiday, the spokesman said: "He is away, as I say, out of the office for a couple of days, but he is working."

Number 10 said Mr Johnson "continues to lead the overall government response" to the Afghanistan crisis.

But Downing Street would not confirm whether Mr Johnson's wife, Carrie, or the couple's son, Wilfred, were with him.

It follows a row over Dominic Raab's holiday to Crete, during which the foreign secretary was reported to have spent time on the beach as Afghanistan's capital Kabul fell to the Taliban.

Mr Johnson was also previously criticised this month for attempting a break away from London - which he later cut short - amid Afghanistan's takeover by the extremist group.

Number 10 usually confirms whether a prime minister taking time away from Downing Street is on holiday.

Mr Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, enjoyed walking holidays in Wales and Switzerland while in power.

And Mr Johnson and his now wife (then Carrie Symonds) themselves enjoyed a break in Mustique following the Conservatives' general election victory in December 2019 - a trip for which the prime minister was later criticised over his failure to properly disclose how it was funded.

Last year, the couple spent time on holiday in Scotland with Wilfred.

Earlier this month, Mr Johnson was reportedly spotted at Taunton station as he cut short time away from London after just one day to deal with the Afghanistan crisis.

The prime minister owns a one-fifth share of a property in Somerset, the county where he spent much of his childhood.

The Johnson family are said to own a 500-acre farm in Somerset, where some of them - including the prime minister's father Stanley - reportedly stayed during the coronavirus lockdown last year.

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2021-08-31 12:28:09Z
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Afghanistan: Dominic Raab blames Ministry of Defence over 'clearly wrong' intelligence - The Times

Dominic Raab has blamed military intelligence failures for the West’s humiliation in Kabul, intensifying an internal government blame game.

The foreign secretary said the Ministry of Defence’s predictions of the speed of the Taliban takeover were “clearly wrong”.

Raab will appear before the Commons foreign affairs committee tomorrow to be questioned about his handling of the crisis, where he is likely to say that other government departments need to take their share of the blame.

This morning he pointed the finger at the UK military and at the US for underestimating the strength of the Taliban, saying

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Selasa, 31 Agustus 2021

A welcome to make us proud: Relief as 10,000 Afghan heroes who risked their lives helping UK troops are given permission to live here indefinitely

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