Latest news with #AfghanResettlement
The Independent
22-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Increasing number of Afghan allies waiting for homes in UK
A total of 3,880 Afghan people are awaiting permanent homes after being brought to the UK under the Afghan Resettlement Scheme. This number is up from the 3,035 reported in September 2024 and includes nearly 2,000 children. They are living in temporary housing, including hotels and military bases, while permanent homes are found. The resettlement scheme helps Afghans who supported British objectives or troops during the war and aims to protect those facing persecution from the Taliban. The number of Afghans resettled under the scheme rose 17 per cent in the year ending March 2025, totalling 7,736 people. The Ministry of Defence and Home Office are working with local councils to find more permanent housing solutions.
The Independent
22-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Nearly 2,000 Afghan children living in hotels, military bases and other temporary accommodation in UK
Nearly 2,000 children of Afghan families brought to the UK because of their support of the British are living in hotels, military bases and other temporary accommodation, new data has revealed. There are 3,880 people, brought to the UK under the Afghan Resettlement Programme, who are living in transitional accommodation while waiting for a more permanent home, government data released on Thursday showed. The government has said that 'around half' of these 3,880 were children as of the end of March 2025. The families are being housed in military bases around the UK, as well as Home Office hotels and other temporary accommodation. The resettlement scheme is designed to help those Afghans who worked for or closely with British troops, or who supported British government objectives during the war - many of whom face persecution under the Taliban regime. The number of people being brought to the UK under the Afghan schemes is on the rise. Data shows that there were 7,736 people resettled in the year ending March 2025, a 17 per cent increase on the previous year. Military bases being used have included sites in Leicestershire, Wiltshire, South Wales, Inverness and Dorset. The Afghan families are living at the bases on a transitional basis before they are moved to homes on other barracks, council properties, or more permanent homes ring-fenced for those in the forces. The MoD has run out of more permanent homes for these Afghan allies and some hotels have now been opened to house Afghan families while they wait. The MoD and the Home Office are also liaising with local councils to find extra housing for them. The number of Afghans living in this transitional accommodation in the UK has increased, with 3,035 people recorded as living in this temporary housing at the end of September 2024. Data obtained by The Independent earlier this year showed that 1,015 service family accommodation homes were being used for Afghan allies as of 1 January 2025. These homes are available to families for up to three years. The MoD is currently undertaking a review of some 2,000 resettlement applications from Afghans with credible links to two special forces units CF333 and ATF444, who served closely with UK special forces soldiers during the war in Afghanistan. The review was prompted after failures were identified in how their applications for sanctuary were refused.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Inverness barracks' role resettling Afghans to end
The 140-year-old Cameron Barracks in Inverness is to be phased out from use as a place for housing Afghans who risked their lives helping the UK armed UK was part of a US-led military coalition which withdraw from Afghanistan in August 2021 after 20 years of conflict. Cameron Barracks has been used as temporary accommodation for families relocated to the UK under the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP).The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the barracks, along with other military sites, were being returned to full use by the armed forces due to heightened global tensions. Eleven families from Afghanistan have been relocated to the Highland Council area since December local authority said the MoD had offered eight homes it owns as alternative temporary accommodation to the former army depot. MoD sites have been used as transitional accommodation since 2021 when the UK government's resettlement programme are provided with temporary housing for a maximum of nine months while more permanent homes are found for supported UK armed forces personnel in various roles, including as MoD said Cameron Barracks, and its other properties, had offered a "safe, interim" UK ministers decided last December that use of the barracks and other MoD bases would be reduced, and replaced by hotels and rented MoD spokesperson said: "The defence estate is not an enduring solution and must return to its original purpose – to accommodate our armed forces and their families, and to combat the acute threats and destabilising behaviour of our adversaries."In December, senior military figures warned that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea posed an increasing threat to UK security. A report to Highland Council's housing and property committee said Cameron Barracks was expected to be phased out of use over the spring and summer.A spokesperson said Highland, like all Scottish councils, would continue discussions with local authorities body Cosla on how humanitarian and resettlement programmes could be delivered in the coming months. They said: "The Home Office is the lead agency for refugee resettlement and Highland will await further announcements in due course on this issue."The main focus of the report is to seek councillors' support for an application for a City of Sanctuary designation, which would be sought for the whole council area, would recognise the Highlands as safe and welcoming for refugees, asylum seekers and displaced Council has housed families from Syria and and Glasgow are part of the City of Sanctuary housing and property committee is due to discuss a bid at a meeting next week. Cameron Barracks on the city's Perth road was opened in 1884 as an infantry years it served as a base for the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. In the past, soldiers complained about the barracks' poor drains and they required "frequent clearing".
