The prime minister has said the UK will do ‘everything possible’ to help Afghans still stranded there who the government has pledged to help leave.
Boris Johnson told the Commons this afternoon: ‘Let me say to anyone who we’ve made commitments to and who is currently in Afghanistan: we are working urgently with our friends in the region to secure safe passage and as soon as routes are available we will do everything possible to help you to reach safety.’
He said that Afghan refugees will be able to access help to settle into the UK, such as free English courses and 300 university scholarships.
Last week the Department for Education gave details of help available for refugees, saying: ‘While many will speak English through their work with the UK government and British forces, and as translators, language classes will ensure all their family members can fully integrate into their local communities.’
Mr Johnson said this afternoon that he remained committed to a resettlement programme to help up to 20,000 Afghans come to the UK.
He said his government would seen to ‘provide a safe and legal route for up to 20,000 Afghans in the region over the coming years, with 5,000 in the first year’.
He added: ‘We will also include Afghans who have contributed to civil society who face a particular risk from the Taliban, for example because of their role in standing up for democracy and human rights or because of their gender or sexuality or religion.
‘All who come to our country through this safe and legal route will receive not a five-year visa but indefinite leave to remain.’
He defended the UK’s 20 years of military action in Afghanistan in the Commons, as Parliament returned from its summer recess.
The Prime Minister told MPs: ‘On Saturday, we shall mark the 20th anniversary of the reason why we went into Afghanistan in the first place: the terrorist attacks on the United States which claimed 2,977 lives including those of 67 Britons.
‘If anyone is tempted to say that we have achieved nothing in that country – or still tempted to say that we have achieved nothing in that country in 20 years – tell them that our armed forces and those of our allies enabled 3.6 million girls to go to school, tell them that this country and the western world were protected from al Qaida in Afghanistan throughout that period, and tell them that we have just mounted the biggest humanitarian airlift in recent history.’
He added: ‘There are very few countries which have the military capability to do what we have just done, and fewer still that would have felt the moral imperative to act in the same way. We can be proud of our armed forces and everything that they have achieved and for the legacy they leave behind, and what they did was in the best traditions of this country.’
During his address on Afghanistan, Boris Johnson told the Commons: “We will shortly be writing to local authorities and the devolved administrations with details on funding for extra school places and long-term accommodation across the UK.”
On security he added: ‘If the new regime in Kabul want international recognition and access to the billions of dollars currently frozen in overseas accounts then we and our friends will hold them to their agreement to prevent Afghanistan from ever again becoming an incubator for terrorism, and we shall insist on safe passage for anyone who wishes to leave, and respect the rights of women and girls.’
He added: ‘We will judge the Taliban by their actions not their words, and use every economic, political and diplomatic lever to protect our own countries from harm and to help the Afghan people. We’ve already doubled the UK’s humanitarian and development assistance to £286 million this year including to help people in the region.’
Sir Keir Starmer criticised the Government’s handling of the Afghanistan crisis, telling MPs: ‘Because of this lack of leadership, the Government has left many behind to whom we owe so much.’
He added: ‘The Government doesn’t even know how many UK nationals and Afghan nationals eligible under the Arap scheme have been left behind to the cruelty of the Taliban. A national disgrace.’
Sir Keir said there is no international agreement on the resettlement of Afghan refugees, adding: ‘We have a Prime Minister incapable of international leadership just when we needed it most.’
He concluded with praise for troops, but noted: ‘We are proud of all those who contributed. Their story made even more remarkable by the fact that whilst they were saving lives, our political leadership was missing in action.’
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