PM set to announce resettlement scheme for Afghans ‘most in need’

Published

4 years ago

August 16, 2021

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Boris Johnson is set to announce a bespoke resettlement scheme for those “most in need” in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s dramatic takeover of the country, Downing Street has said.

Number 10 said the prime minister and his government were finalising details of a specific scheme to allow Afghans to claim asylum in the UK.

The programme will be focussed on helping the most vulnerable and women and girls in particular.

Mr Johnson has been under pressure, including from among his own Conservative MPs, to urgently set up a resettlement scheme for Afghan refugees amid the unfolding crisis in the country.

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 after becoming a target due to her campaigning for girls’ education, has called on countries around the world to “open their borders” to Afghan refugees.

Canada has been among the first countries to promise help by unveiling plans to resettle more than 20,000 vulnerable Afghans, including women leaders, human rights workers and reporters.

Downing Street offered no detail on how many Afghans would be permitted asylum in the UK under the new scheme.

On Monday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK was “obviously a big-hearted nation”, adding: “We’ve got the criteria for asylum, that’s set in law, we work with the UN on that.

“We’re working very carefully on what kind of further commitment we might make.”

Under the scheme for Syrian refugees that closed earlier this year, on which the Afghanistan programme will reportedly be based, around 20,000 Syrians were resettled in the UK.

An existing scheme to offer relocation to current or former employees of the UK government in Afghanistan who are judged to be at risk, which launched in April this year, has so far seen nearly 2,000 eligible persons flown from the country on military chartered commercial flights.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy argued there were “hours, not days” to establish “safe and legal routes” for vulnerable Afghans to escape the country.

The prime minister is also this week attempting to use the UK’s presidency of the G7 to push for a coordinated international response to the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan, following the swift collapse of the country’s Western-backed government.

Mr Johnson intends to host a virtual meeting of G7 leaders in the “coming days”.

This will attempt to focus efforts on ensuring Afghanistan doesn’t again become a base for terrorism, to coordinate humanitarian efforts, and to discuss expectations of what government might emerge in Afghanistan, Downing Street said.

The prime minister’s call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday saw the pair agree to work together on a joint resolution at the UN Security Council.

Mr Johnson will also soon be speaking with other world leaders, Number 10 said.

The prime minister chaired a third emergency COBRA meeting in four days on Monday afternoon, after which it was announced an extra 200 British troops will be sent to Afghanistan capital Kabul to bring the number of UK armed forces personnel in the city to around 900.

Their primary focus will be the evacuation effort from the city’s airport, with Mr Raab saying on Monday – following talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken – that the two countries’ “immediate priority is ensuring the safety of our nationals and those who supported our work over the last 20 years”.

But both Mr Raab and Mr Johnson are facing criticism over their response to the crisis in Afghanistan.

Former military chiefs have questioned why both the foreign secretary and prime minister took their summer holidays at the same time, before being forced back to London following the Taliban’s capture of Kabul.

Major Gen Charlie Herbert, who undertook three tours of duty in Afghanistan between 2007-18, told the Guardian: “It is almost impossible to believe that the prime minister departed on holiday on Saturday; he should hang his head in shame. It is dereliction of duty on an extraordinary scale.

“He is overseeing one of the greatest military humiliations in the recent history of this country.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The UK team in Afghanistan is working around the clock in incredibly difficult circumstances to help British nationals and as many others as we can get to safety as soon as possible.

“At the same time, we are bringing together the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis emerging in Afghanistan – it’s in everyone’s interest not to let Afghanistan fail.

“That means providing whatever support we can to the Afghan people who have worked so hard to make the country a better place over the last twenty years and who are now in need of our help.”

Politics

Clampdown on social media ads for Channel crossings unveiled

Published

9 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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Clampdown on social media ads for Channel crossings unveiled

Anyone who advertises Channel crossings or fake passports on social media could face up to five years in prison under new government plans.

Research suggests about 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat used internet platforms during their journey – including to contact agents linked to smuggling gangs.

While it is already illegal to assist illegal immigration, ministers hope the creation of a new offence will give police more powers and disrupt business models.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is also planning to introduce a fast-track scheme to tackle the asylum backlog, meaning decisions will be made within weeks.

It comes as official figures show more than 25,000 people have arrived on small boats so far in 2025 – a record for this point in the year.

Ms Cooper said it is “immoral” for smugglers to sell false promises online, adding: “These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media.

“We are determined to do everything we can to stop them, wherever they operate.”

The new offence prohibiting the online promotion of Channel crossings is set to be included in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill already going through Parliament.

Officials from the National Crime Agency already work with tech giants to remove such posts – with more than 8,000 taken offline last year.

A Preston-based smuggler who was jailed for 17 years had posted videos of migrants thanking him for his help.

Meanwhile, Albanian smugglers have created promotions for £12,000 “package deals” which claim to offer accommodation and a job in the UK on arrival.

The Conservatives have described the measures as “too little, too late” – and say automatic deportations are the only way to tackle small boat crossings.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Labour still has no clear plan to deter illegal entry, no effective enforcement and no strategy to speed up removals. This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing.”

It comes as protests outside hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers continue in towns and cities across the UK.

Several demonstrators were detained – with police breaking up brief clashes – outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in north London yesterday.

The government is legally required to provide accommodation and subsistence to destitute asylum seekers while their claims are being decided, most of whom are prohibited from working.

Politics

China’s crypto liquidation plans reveal its grand strategy

Published

21 hours ago

August 2, 2025

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China’s crypto liquidation plans reveal its grand strategy

China’s plan to liquidate confiscated crypto through Hong Kong exchanges isn’t simply a policy — it’s to control global digital asset markets and outmaneuver the US.

Politics

Make ‘significant adjustments’ to Online Safety Act, X urges govt

Published

1 day ago

August 2, 2025

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X criticises Online Safety Act - and warns it's putting free speech in the UK at risk

The Online Safety Act is putting free speech at risk and needs significant adjustments, Elon Musk’s social network X has warned.

New rules that came into force last week require platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X – as well as sites hosting pornography – to bring in measures to prove that someone using them is over the age of 18.

The Online Safety Act requires sites to protect children and to remove illegal content, but critics have said that the rules have been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content.

X has warned the act’s laudable intentions were “at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach”.

It said: “When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of ‘online safety’.

“It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made.”

X claims the timetable for platforms to meet mandatory measures had been unnecessarily tight – and despite complying, sites still faced threats of enforcement and fines, “encouraging over-censorship”.

“A balanced approach is the only way to protect individual liberties, encourage innovation and safeguard children. It’s safe to say that significant changes must take place to achieve these objectives in the UK,” it said.

A UK government spokesperson said it is “demonstrably false” that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech.

“As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression,” they added.

Users have complained about age checks that require personal data to be uploaded to access sites that show pornography, and 468,000 people have already signed a petition asking for the new law to be repealed.

In response to the petition, the government said it had “no plans” to reverse the Online Safety Act.

Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage likened the new rules to “state suppression of genuine free speech” and said his party would ditch the regulations.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said on Tuesday that those who wanted to overturn the act were “on the side of predators” – to which Mr Farage demanded an apology, calling Mr Kyle’s comments “absolutely disgusting”.

Regulator Ofcom said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into how four companies – that collectively run 34 pornography sites – are complying with new age-check requirements.

These companies – 8579 LLC, AVS Group Ltd, Kick Online Entertainment S.A. and Trendio Ltd – run dozens of sites, and collectively have more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors, the internet watchdog said.

The regulator said it prioritised the companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operated and their user numbers.

It adds to the 11 investigations already in progress into 4chan, as well as an unnamed online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, and two adult websites.

Ofcom said it expects to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months.