UK ‘preventing escape’ of Afghans promised sanctuary in Britain after ending evacuations

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has been accused of “blocking the escape” of Afghans to promised sanctuary in Britain after the government stopped evacuating eligible families.

Defense secretary Luke Pollard insisted Britain could “fully meet its obligations” to the Afghan relocation offer, despite saying they should flee Taliban-ruled Afghanistan themselves.

Last month the Ministry of Defense told around 9,000 Afghans eligible to come to the UK that “when they are able to do so, they should go to a third country” and that they would be provided with accommodation and visa support there until 2028.

Defense select committee chairman Tan Dhesi asked Mr Pollard about the decision on Tuesday. He said: “Would you say that is a complete contradiction that on the one hand the Secretary of State says that he will fulfill his commitment to bring back the remaining Afghans, when in reality we are blocking their escape route because we have stopped helping the Afghans by stopping third party aid?

Mr Pollard replied: “We have seen a huge increase in the number of self-moving people moving legally from Afghanistan to a third country. We then provide support from the third country to the UK.”

“We believe we can fully meet our obligations, but we have a different way of going about how we do it,” he added.

Afghan resettlement schemes closed to new applicants in July last year, just before it was revealed that the Ministry of Defense was responsible for a massive data leak on applicants’ details which the ministry said put thousands of lives at risk.

The Defense Department used an unprecedented crackdown to keep the leak secret out of fear that news of the breach could endanger Afghans. The review, by former deputy director of defense intelligence Paul Rimmer, concluded that although the Taliban had committed reprisals against former Afghan security forces, their detection from the dataset was unlikely to constitute sole justification for targeting.

Families have the right to come to the UK because of their previous support for UK forces in Afghanistan or because their data has been breached.

Mr Pollard told the defense committee of MPs on Tuesday that the injunction was “quite distasteful to me as a parliamentarian”.

Asked what he would say to Afghans waiting for the UK to relocate if he could speak to them directly, Mr Pollard said: “We will fully fulfill our obligation to eligible Afghans.

“There are roughly 9,000 people left to move… We know that the vast majority of the remaining application backlog will likely be deemed ineligible based on the trends we have right now, but we will continue to support those who are eligible.”

He added: “Maintaining the commitment to the Afghans is an important part for me personally and for this government,” but said “it cannot be an open-ended commitment.”

Independent Last month, it was reported that two Afghans approved for British relocation had challenged the Ministry of Defense in the High Court over their failure to help them escape Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense has pledged to end all aid and displacement to Afghans by December 2028.