Preston City Council calls for no specific limit on number of Afghan refugees to be welcomed to UK
The UK intends to resettle 20,000 Afghans but councillors don't think an "arbitrary limit" should be set
Preston City Council has called on the government not to set an “arbitrary limit” on the number of Afghan refugees that it will welcome to the country in the wake of the Taliban resurgence.
Ministers have announced that the UK intends to resettle 20,000 Afghans over a five-year period – with 5,000 of them set to arrive before the end of the year.
However, during a full council debate on a notice of motion which resolved that Preston should “express solidarity” with the people of Afghanistan and their right to live “free lives” – put forward by Preston Rural East ward councillor Graham Jolliffe – concerns were expressed both at the notion of a cap and any delay in helping those who will ultimately be eligible to come to the UK.
Lea and Larches councillor and planning cabinet member David Borrow said that the current proposal suggested that “15,000 people will be left somewhere”.
“We left quite a lot of people for years in Syria. Leaving refugees that we want to welcome here somewhere else to be forgotten is really dangerous.
“I’m sure we can find the capacity…they are better staying here where it’s safe than the airport at Kabul for the next few years in a refugee camp,” Cllr Borrow added.
Meanwhile, Plungington representative Cllr Pav Akhtar reflected on how many Afghans have been brought to the UK since western forces entered their country to rid it of the Taliban 20 years ago – and how many have not.
“Since 2001, our government has rejected 32,000 Afghan asylum applications under the government resettlement scheme. People who are terrorised whom we will not accept are traumatised and terrorised by what’s happening in Afghanistan.
“148,000 Afghan refugees have arrived in Germany, 32,000 have moved into France – and 9,000 have come to the UK in that time. Twenty years of brutality – and we only have the heart to allow 9,000.”
The debate was staged as district councils across Lancashire were asked to pledge how many families they could accommodate under an existing scheme specifically designed to accommodate Afghans who had been employed by the British Army during its operations in their homeland.
In Central Lancashire, South Ribble has agreed to offer 10 places and is currently searching for suitable properties. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that a previous commitment by Chorley to provide the same number of places for refugees in general could now be used for Afghans. It is understood that Preston is currently considering how many it can help.
Lancashire County Council, which is co-ordinating the work, says that it has not yet been given details by the government of any scheme to resettle civilians currently fleeing Afghanistan.
Preston leader Matthew Brown said that the city – which achieved City of Sanctuary status in 2017 for its efforts to welcome and support people escaping persecution and violence – should take its “fair share” of Afghan refugees.
He added: “Refugees should be welcome in our community – these are people fleeing circumstances where they could very easily be killed through no fault of their own.
However, Cllr Brown stressed that the government must provide the necessary infrastructure and support for refugees arriving in places like Preston.