Afghan translators who risked their lives for Britain are denied entry to the country due to housing shortages despite 5,000 hotel rooms being kept empty for Channel migrants
- About 2,000 Afghans are being denied entry to the UK due to housing shortages
- The Home Office admitted it has 5,000 hotel rooms empty for Channel migrants
Hotel rooms are being kept empty for Channel migrants – while Afghans who risked their lives for Britain are banned from coming here.
About 2,000 Afghans offered sanctuary after the Taliban swept back to power are being denied entry into the UK, with officials blaming housing shortages.
Yet the Home Office admitted this week it was keeping 5,000 unused hotel rooms as an ‘overspill’ for small boat migrants. This is thought to cost taxpayers £5million a week.
The Afghans are languishing in hotels abroad waiting for their visas – among them 700 children.
Their plight has been highlighted by the Daily Mail’s award-winning Betrayal of the Brave campaign.
About 2,000 Afghans who were offered sanctuary by the UK are being denied entry due to a lack of housing (File Pphoto: The Vista Hotel in Llanelli, Wales has been used by the Home Office to temporarily house asylum seekers)
Rafi Hottak, who was blown up in a blast that killed a UK officer, said: ‘How can the Home Office have 5,000 empty, paid-for hotel rooms when those who risked their lives for the UK are told hotels are not suitable for them?
‘It really is hard to believe that people entitled to sanctuary in the UK are being made to wait for many months while hotels are prepared for others who have done nothing for Britain.’
Hopes now rest on a looming showdown at the High Court. The Home Office is being challenged by lawyers for the Afghans – and campaigners say the ministry’s case is hopeless.
The Afghans cannot obtain a visa to travel here without proving they have housing. Yet it is illegal for foreign nationals to rent a home in Britain without a visa.
The Afghans were offered sanctuary by the UK government after risking their lives to help the British military (File photo: A Taliban militant stands guard in Kabul, Afghanistan)
Erin Alcock of solicitors Leigh Day, which is representing some of the Afghans, said: ‘A commitment was made to those who put their lives on the line for the British military in Afghanistan.
‘My client and his family, like hundreds of others still waiting, are now told there is an additional barrier to their relocation to safety – one that is impossible for most to meet.’
The Afghans have been granted protection here under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Yet one former translator has been in an overseas hotel room for more than 18 months. Another 75 have been in hotels for more than a year.
The Home Office has admitted it is keeping 5,000 hotel rooms empty for small boat migrants (File photo: Migrants cross the English Channel on an inflatable boat)
Karim, 36, a former supervisor of UK military translators, who has been in a hotel in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad with his wife and child for over a year, said: ‘The Taliban stopped our children going to school but by keeping us in hotels, the British Government is preventing their education too.’
Dr Sara de Jong of the Sulha Alliance, which campaigns for ex-military translators, said: ‘UK hotels offer no permanent solutions, but they are endlessly better than hotels in Pakistan and other third countries.’
Home Office second permanent secretary Simon Ridley told MPs on Monday that 5,000 hotel rooms in Britain were booked – and paid for – as a ‘buffer’ for the asylum processing centre at Manston in Kent.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan, with around 24,500 brought to safety in the UK so far.
‘We continue to work across government and with partners to find suitable accommodation for them.’
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