Johnson faces calls for greater support for refugees after Taliban takeover

MPs from all parties have reacted angrily to the UK government response to the situation in Afghanistan in an emergency debate this afternoon with many calling for greater support for refugees following the takeover by the Taliban.

The government committed on Tuesday to resettling 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan over the next five years but has faced criticism, in particular, over the fact that only 5,000 of the overall total will be accepted under the scheme this year.

“What are the other 15,000 meant to do? Hang around and wait until they’ve been executed?” Labour MP for Rhondda Chris Bryant asked Boris Johnson as the Prime Minister opened the debate in parliament this morning.

“The Prime Minister said last night we would take 20,000 refugees but how can anyone believe him?” Lisa Nandy asked, reminding parliament of the closure of the ‘Dubs’ scheme designed to resettle unaccompanied child refugees.

“The government has given us a press release. What we need is a plan. What is the scale of the refugee crisis that the government anticipates?” the Shadow Foreign Secretary asked ministers this afternoon.

“What efforts have they made to coordinate a global response through the UN based on a clear assessment of the needs of Afghans? Not numbers plucked out of thin air with no plan to implement them.”

The 20,000 overall figure promised by ministers is the same as the number of people resettled from Syria. Campaigners have argued the commitment is too small with some pointing out that Syria is approximately half the size of Afghanistan.

“We should feel ashamed. We are betraying those we have promised we would help, leaving people who relied on us at the mercy of their enemy,” Labour MP Anna McMorrin said, adding: “20,000 refugees over five years is simply not good enough.”

The newly announced programme is set to run separately to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (ARAP) launched in April this year, which is aimed at offering relocation for those who aided British operations in Afghanistan.

Yvette Cooper MP stressed that the ARAP scheme is “too narrow” as it currently stands, since it refers only to directly-employed staff, and argued that the lives of many who worked as contractors for UK operations are at risk.

The chair of the home affairs select committee also highlighted that Home Secretary Priti Patel announced in 2019 that the UK would continue a resettlement scheme of 5,000 refugees after the closure of the Syrian scheme.

Cooper asked Johnson to confirm whether the announcement today, that the government will take 5,000 Afghan refugees this year, stands in addition to existing commitments. He told MPs that it is an additional commitment.

Labour MP Stella Creasy highlighted that up until last week it had been government policy to send people back to Kabul as it was classified as “safe” and asked the Prime Minister to confirm that this would no longer be the case.

He said the UK would not send people back to Afghanistan, but added: “Nor will we be allowing people to come from Afghanistan to this country in an indiscriminate way. We want to be generous but we must make sure we look after our own security.”

Hilary Benn highlighted the implications of the government’s nationality and borders bill, currently progressing through parliament, for refugees attempting to reach the UK: “An Afghan who finally makes it to the northern coast of France and gets in a boat, and knowingly enters the UK without permission, could face a prison sentence of up to four years.”

The legislation, introduced earlier this year, will effectively enshrine a two-tier system of refugee protection based on how people have arrived in the country where those making ‘irregular’ journeys, such as by boat, receive less support.

Diane Abbott said the UK must not “let down” women and girls in Afghanistan, saying parliament needs to ensure that the future of these women and girls is “at the centre of what we are talking about and what we are trying to do”.

“We cannot let down the refugees that we know will be pouring out of Afghanistan,” she continued, arguing that the UK owes an “extraordinary moral responsibility” following its decision to intervene militarily 20 years ago.

She also told MPs that “we cannot let down British veterans” who fought and died in the conflict, and said parliament must continue to try and “understand the lessons to be learnt from what is happening to Afghanistan”.

Labour’s Dan Jarvis said UK military personnel had shown “outstanding professionalism and courage” but told MPs that they are now “grappling with the question about whether all of the effort, the sacrifice, was really worth it”.

He warned of the consequences of the Taliban takeover for Afghan soldiers who fought alongside the UK. Recounting his time serving in the conflict, he said: “We trained together, fought together and in some cases we died together.

“They were our brothers in arms. But I shudder to think where those men are now. Many will be dead. Others I know now consider themselves to be dead men walking. Where were we in their hour of need? We were nowhere and that is shameful.”

MPs from all political parties criticised the recent speech given by Joe Biden, in which the US President placed blame for the current situation on Afghan troops. Jarvis described it as “particularly distasteful and dishonouring”.

Opposition party MPs shouted “disgrace” as Conservative backbencher Desmond Swayne today criticised Afghan civilians for “queuing at the airport” rather than joining “the resistance” against the Taliban forces that have taken power.

Johnson and ministers also faced criticism from Conservative MPs over the government’s response to the situation in Afghanistan. Chairman of the foreign affairs select committee Tom Tugendhat described his “grief and rage” at the “abandonment of not just a country but the sacrifice my friends made”.

Jonny Mercer said ministers have made decisions that have made it harder for refugees to come to the UK and told parliament that while he welcomed the commitment today: “Let’s not kid ourselves about what has happened in the past.”

Former Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May described the situation as a “major setback for British foreign policy”, asking this afternoon: “We boast about global Britain but where is global Britain on the streets of Kabul?”

“What does it say about us as a country, what does it say about NATO, if we are entirely dependent on a unilateral decision taken by the US?” she asked, adding: “I do find it incomprehensible and worrying that the UK was not able to bring together not a military solution but an alternative alliance of countries to continue to provide the support necessary to sustain a government in Afghanistan.”

Former Tory Party leader Ian Duncan Smith argued that the UK government must “defend” democracy and described the withdrawal of a UK presence in the country as a “despicable retreat” that will “embolden those who would bring it down”.

MPs were not due to return to parliament until September 6th, but the decision was made to hold an emergency debate today following pressure from opposition parties as the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan over the weekend.

Earlier in the debate today, Keir Starmer accused the Prime Minister of “complacency and poor judgement” over the UK government’s response to the situation and called for a “generous and welcoming” resettlement scheme for refugees.

He highlighted that the US agreement to withdraw troops from the country by May 2021 was made in 2020, leaving the Prime Minister and the government with 18 months to “plan and prepare for the consequences of what followed”.

“The very problems we’re confronting today were all known problems in the last 18 months and there’s been a failure of preparation. The lack of planning is unforgivable and the Prime Minister bears a heavy responsibility,” he said.

Johnson was heckled as he told MPs that the collapse of the government in Afghanistan was “faster than I think even the Taliban predicted” but claimed: “What is not true is that UK government was unprepared or did not foresee this”.

Starmer pointed out that both Labour and Tory MPs had warned that the government was underestimating the threat of the Taliban, and that Johnson told parliament in July that the group was not capable of victory “by military means”.