Children among more than 100 people with links to Plymouth still in Afghanistan

Local MP Luke Pollard has tweeted about the evacuation and called for a plan

Author: Emma HartPublished 1st Sep 2021

It has emerged that more than 100 hundred people with close links to Plymouth are STILL in Afghanistan.

They include around 10 children who would otherwise be getting ready to go back to school.

Local MP Luke Pollard has been tweeting about the evacuation operation.

He says the city is home to Afghan interpreters who supported our military, many of whom are back.

However, Mr Pollard told us he wants to see a plan from the government to bring the others back.

He said: "Over the past few months my team and myself have been trying to get people out of Afghanistan to safety, especially those people that have links to our city.

"Plymouth is a welcoming city and we're home to many of the former Afghan interpreters that supported the British military mission in there for so long and reuniting them with their families and getting their families to safety has been a priority.

"We've managed to get lots of people home but we still have 111 people that we're tracking in Afghanistan, with a close connection to Plymouth, and that includes around 10 children who would otherwise be getting ready to go back to school in Plymouth schools who are still in Kabul.

"So I want to see a plan from ministers as to how we get these people back to safety, how we get them back to Plymouth and I know that the whole city is supporting that effort and especially preparing for what could be additional refugees arriving as part of the resettlement process.

"We're a welcoming city, we're a city with a big heart and we want to make sure that those people with a connection to our city are safe but we're not there yet and that's why the work will continue until we get each and every one of them to safety".

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