You airlifted animals from Kabul – but abandoned us
Anguish of UK passport holders still at Taliban’s mercy
DOZENS of children are among hundreds of British citizens still trapped in Afghanistan and fearful of the brutal Taliban regime.
After the Government was last week accused of prioritising the evacuation of animals, families told The Mail on Sunday how they feel ‘abandoned’.
One man – who has lived in the UK since 1999 but had returned to Afghanistan last summer after the death of his mother but ahead of the rapid advance of the Taliban – said: ‘God forbid, if anything happens to me and my family. The British Government will be responsible for it.
‘After the evacuation ceased, others were rescued by their own governments, including the United States and Canada. My brother-in-law was evacuated by Ukrainian officials, but Britain has left its citizens behind.’
The man, who the MoS is not naming for security reasons, has been a British citizen since 2005.
His family, including his four children, Ayesha, six, Mohammad Omar, four, Sohaima, two, and sixmonth-old Jannat, are in hiding. ‘I call and email the Foreign Office, Home Office and several MPs but nobody has helped. The Government has turned its back on British citizens stranded in Afghanistan,’ he said.
The MoS has seen a cache of 90 British passports belonging to those still in Afghanistan. A WhatsApp group to link hundreds of stranded UK citizens has been set up to provide and share advice and support.
Experts believe there are around 350 Britons in Afghanistan, although the Foreign Office says it does not have a precise figure.
Tory MP Johnny Mercer said: ‘It is possible to praise the efforts of the military in conducting an extremely difficult evacuation, whilst calling out the repeated disinterest from Ministers whenever Afghanistan is out of the spotlight. It truly shames us.’
Operation Pitting saw 5,000 British and 8,000 Afghan nationals airlifted from Kabul in August.
Three British children – Amina, seven, Zaynab, four, and Mohammad, two – were among those who tried to make an evacuation flight that left the same day as a privately chartered plane carrying 170 dogs and cats from Pen Farthing’s Nowzad charity. Boris Johnson has denied claims that he intervened to rescue the animals.
The trio’s father – who came to the UK 20 years ago but was back in Afghanistan with his family when the government fell – said: ‘While they were saving dogs and cats, people were dying outside of the airport, dying in the queue for a flight to safety. It’s very wrong.’ Other countries, including France, Germany and the US, have used charter flights from Qatar to fly their citizens out of Kabul in the months since the military evacuation ended.
By contrast, the UK has resisted evacuating its nationals en masse this way, instead advising them to make the perilous journey into Pakistan or Iran to travel on a commercial flight.
Last night, a Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are doing all we can to enable remaining British nationals and their eligible family members to leave Afghanistan if they wish to, including working closely with our partners in the region and holding the Taliban to their commitment to ensure safe passage.’