Only half of councils offer to help Afghan refugees
SCOTTISH firms and councils have been urged to help rehome Afghan refugees after just half of local authorities signed up to offer support.
Afghan Resettlement Minister Victoria Atkins yesterday pleaded with officials and employers to help government efforts to support 15,000 refugees.
She revealed that so far just 18 of Scotland’s 32 councils had offered support through housing to rehome those fleeing the Taliban.
She also called on businesses to offer employment and homes to families who had been forced to leave Afghanistan.
Officials said that Airbnb had approached them to offer temporary housing. They also said that some industries had contacted the Government to offer employment to refugees.
Miss Atkins, pictured, was speaking from the Home Office yesterday, where she revealed around 3,000 families – 15,000 people in total – need permanent homes.
She said that ‘historically we have looked at local authorities’ for ways to resettle families but ‘because of the wealth of skills and talent this group of people have we are very, very much wanting to work with employers who can also offer homes alongside employment.
‘So if there are employers in Scotland who would like to offer employment and are able to offer accommodation then please, please let us know.’
Ian Blackford, the SNP Westminster leader, urged her to ensure that councils are properly supported to ‘go the extra mile’ in taking in families.
The UK Government has pledged to take about 5,000 people in the first year of a resettlement scheme and up to 20,000 over five years. This is in addition to help under the Afghan relocations and assistance scheme.
DOMINIC Raab faced fresh condemnation last night as diplomatic cables revealed he was warned about the fall of Afghanistan before he went away on holiday.
Newly released telegrams from Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Sir Laurie Bristow, made clear insurgents were on the brink of seizing the country.
The documents challenge Mr Raab’s claim the Taliban’s advance came as a surprise. On August 2, Sir Laurie wrote: ‘The gloves are off ... We are entering a new, dangerous phase of the conflict.’ He said Kabul’s insulation from the fighting elsewhere was ‘very unlikely to last indefinitely’.
Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, said the revelations were ‘damning’. It contrasts with earlier evidence Mr Raab gave when he said intelligence suggested Kabul was unlikely to fall this year.
Sarah Champion, Labour chairman of the Commons international development committee, said: ‘Dominic Raab was warned Kabul would fall quickly – and went on holiday anyway.’ Mr Raab went to a five-star beach resort in Crete just days after the cable was received.
The Daily Mail revealed that senior officials had advised him to make immediate contact with Afghan foreign minister Haneef Atmar but the call was delegated to a junior minister and never actually took place.
Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, said: ‘Why did nobody in Government act on these warnings? It put British service personnel in harm’s way and abandoned thousands of British and Afghan nationals to the Taliban. The new Foreign Secretary [Liz Truss] must come to the House immediately to explain how such an appalling lapse was able to take place.’
When the Taliban marched into Kabul on August 15 Western forces withdrew within two weeks leaving behind hundreds of Afghans who helped British forces.
Last month Mr Raab was demoted to the Ministry of Justice following widespread criticism of his handling of the Afghan crisis. He was given the title of Deputy Prime Minister in a facesaving move.
Speaking to the committee yesterday former US commander General David Petraeus said Afghanistan faced a ‘human catastrophe’ that Britain and other countries would have to tackle.
He told the inquiry he had advised the US government not to withdraw military personnel. In a swipe at Mr Rabb, Mr Tugendhat said the UK had received the same advice from its diplomats.
General Patraeus, who was also previously head of the CIA, said: ‘The situation is very bleak, they’re an ultraconservative Islamist government intent on taking the country back to the seventh century and the Taliban has no money. Regarding the result [of the withdrawal], it is very hard to say this was anything but heart breaking, tragic and disastrous.’
The Mail’s award-winning Betrayal of the Brave campaign has long highlighted the plight of Afghan translators.
Major General Charlie Herbert, who has also fought for interpreters, said: ‘While no one could have predicted the scale and speed of the collapse in Afghanistan, many warning signs were there.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘The Taliban’s final advance on Kabul was significantly faster than anyone predicted.’
RAAB WAS ‘TOO BUSY’ ON HOLIDAY TO HELP BRAVE TRANSLATORS From theMail, August 19