Refugees will find a safe haven here in the county
Council vow to help with crisis
REFUGEES fleeing Afghanistan will be given a place to live in Hampshire, a council has vowed.
With the Taliban retaking control of Afghanistan as the UK and US armed forces pull out of the country, refugees have been leaving the country in their thousands, packed onto aeroplanes leaving Kabul.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has pledged to resettle 20,000 Afghan refugees in the UK over the next five years, and Portsmouth City Council has already welcomed two families into the city – with a view to getting nine families resettled.
A spokeswoman for the council said: ‘The county council is pleased to be working closely with the Home Office and a range of key local partners including district and borough councils, support providers and local charities to assist a number of Afghan families moving to the UK to re-settle across the county as part of the government’s Afghan relocation and assistance policy programme.
‘While the focus is to help re-settle families into longer term accommodation, with associated service support, the rapid escalation of events in Afghanistan has meant that interim, short term placements may also be needed.
‘The county council and partners have assured government of our support with this when required.’
Initially, the county council had pledged to resettle up to 22 Afghan families in Hampshire.
These families – including translators and guides who supported UK troops over the past 20 years – will still be rehomed, but the mass exodus of Afghans from their homeland could lead to many more being rehoused in Hampshire.
However, the leader of Portsmouth City Council, Councillor Gerald VernonJackson has criticised Hampshire and Southampton for not acting sooner to take in refugees.
Speaking last night, the Liberal Democrat chief said: ‘Government ministers wrote to every single council weeks and weeks ago to come forward and I’m shocked that Portsmouth was just one of the few councils that responded.
‘Southampton didn’t and nor did Hampshire – I’m pleased to see that they’re doing things at long last. It’s just a pity it’s come so late. We were needing to get people out weeks ago.’
He added: ‘These are people who put their lives at risk to protect British troops from the Taliban. It might be that we’re a military city that we take this stuff more seriously because we know what the cost of sacrifice is.’
Cllr Dan Fitzhenry, leader of Southampton City Council, said: ‘We will be supporting, housing and settling Afghan refugees and we have been working on this for a number of weeks. We just need to work out what we can do and we are working on it at the moment. We are absolutely committed to help those who need our help.
‘We have been working with the government over a number of weeks to support Afghan refugees. We are closely working with the government and other parties to ensure that we can do the best as a city to support those who need it.’