The government of the United Kingdom has announced that it will welcome up to 20,000 people as the Taliban takeover the Afghan capital Kabul.

The new plan is on top of the one that already exists for the Afghan interpreters and others who have worked for British troops in the past two decades in Afghanistan.

The promise to resettle Afghan refugees comes amid chaos in Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul as thousands of men, women, and children have gathered in the airport to flee the country.

UK’s Home secretary Priti Patel has asked other countries to help in the refugees’ crisis of Afghanistan because he said the UK cannot do anything alone.

Earlier, Canada had announced a similar scheme of resettling 20,000 vulnerable Afghans the applications for which has already started.

Based on the new scheme of the UK, 5,000 eligible people which includes girls, women and other groups will be given priority and will be flown out in the first year while the rest will be resettled in upcoming years.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also talked with his US counterpart on the situation of Afghanistan and promised to work together to fly out as many Afghans as possible.

Other high-ranking officials on the other hand sort of criticized the scheme and said that the number of visa should be increased to 35,000 or 40,000.

Author


  • Najibullah Lalzoy is a journalist and editor at Khaama Press. He has a BA degree in journalism.