London: The UK government has been urged in an open letter by a group of military leaders and MPs to fulfill its "debt of honor" and protect Afghan refugees, according to The Independent.
Gen. Richard Dannatt, a former commander of the British Army, and George Robertson, a former secretary-general of NATO, among others, signed a letter to the prime minister in which they referred to the stranding of Afghans in perilous situations as a "disgrace."
It came after news broke that nearly 2,000 Afghans who qualified for relocation to the UK had been left in hotels all over Pakistan after fleeing their country after the Taliban took control.
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Despite moving more than 1,000 Afghans from Pakistan to Britain last year, the UK government has since quietly ended the program, with only six individuals arriving in the country since December.
The open letter urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take charge of the situation and added that thousands of Afghans who had previously served alongside British forces had been forgotten and left behind.
Afghanistan is very much in the rearview mirror, and there isn't the political will to uphold the previous commitments, according to MP Dan Jarvis, a former army officer who served in Afghanistan.
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These are not economic migrants or individuals who merely wish to emigrate from Afghanistan in search of a better life. In the event that they do not find safety, the Taliban will kill these individuals.
The UK prime minister promised to move heaven and earth to get these people to a safe place: "These are people who risked their lives to serve alongside us in support of our mission, at our request.
21,387 Afghans have been relocated to the UK as a result of the Afghan relocations and assistance policy since the Taliban took over.
However, the letter warned that delays in the program had caused a "bottleneck" in Pakistan, where nearly 2,000 Afghans were still "in limbo" while awaiting final approval to move to the UK.
A sensitive topic for the government was the housing of Afghans in British hotels, with ministers eager to relocate current refugees to conventional housing before welcoming new Afghan arrivals.
The open letter claimed that those who were still stranded in Afghanistan were in a "desperate" situation.
Some people there have been there for a year and are about to enter a second year. They think that the British government is making efforts to make it possible for them to begin their new lives there. They are in error.
"These are individuals who excelled in the demanding examinations. Along with our own service members, they have put their lives in danger to advance UK goals in Afghanistan.
It is inconceivable that we would breach our obligation to uphold our honor and disregard them.
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The "chaotic situation" in Westminster, where various departments had abdicated responsibility for resolving the issue, was described by senior military figures who have tried to exert pressure on the government over its obligations to Afghans.
One letter signatory claimed that the government seemed "quite happy for this issue to be forgotten and swept under the carpet."