Thousands of Afghans airlifted by UK face homelessness with hotel evacuation deadline

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, England (AA) — Thousands of Afghan refugees who aided the British army and other bodies in their country are facing homelessness as the government refuses to budge on a decision to evacuate their hotels by Thursday midnight.

The UK rushed about 8,000 vulnerable Afghans through refugee channels after Britain and the US pulled out of Afghanistan in August 2021 as the Taliban regained control of the nation.

The refugees, who served British interests despite threats from the Taliban, have since been living in hotels until the British government announced that they must be evacuated by Aug. 31, a deadline criticized severely by humanitarian groups.

They have largely been refused accommodation elsewhere, resulting in one in five refugees registering with local councils as homeless.

UK council housing lists are notoriously long, with many waiting up to a year to find a home fit for a large family. Afghan families and individuals, many of whom have been in the UK for a year, struggle to find accommodation or negotiate rental agreements because of a lack of necessary documentation and language barriers.

Thousands continued to flee after the Britain evacuated about 18,000 people, including more than 6,000 British nationals, in the two weeks following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

The refugees applied for the Afghan Citizen's Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) or Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) from the UK or British diplomatic missions in neighboring countries.

"There are hundreds of people in Pakistan who cannot be brought to the UK due to the housing issue. Some of these people have their papers approved and ready," Fahim Zazai, the founder of the Afghan Community and Welfare Centre in Walsall, told Anadolu.

Zazai said his charity had helped five families find private housing. "The government is helping by giving six months' rent in advance, else it is really difficult to get the landlords to agree. With the housing crisis in the country, it is almost impossible to rent a house in London anyway."

The housing crisis in the UK is expected to worsen with the arrival of Ukrainian refugees whom the UK sponsors. Local authorities are already complaining about not having enough homes to meet the demands.