PM set to unveil ‘bespoke plan’ to help settle vulnerable Afghans in UK
The Prime Minister will unveil a “bespoke” resettlement scheme for vulnerable Afghans as efforts to get British nationals and other support staff back to the UK continue.
Boris Johnson would give more information about the refugee scheme in the coming days, with the policy anticipated to be focused on helping women and girls, Number 10 said..
In Afghanistan, UK armed forces numbers are to be bolstered to 900, with a further 200 announced by the Ministry of Defence yesterday.
They will be involved in the push to bring UK nationals home and secure the safety of selected Afghans, an effort that has intensified since the Taliban took Kabul following their lightning offensive which has shocked the West.
The decision to send in additional troops follows frantic scenes at Kabul airport that left seven people dead, including some who fell from a departing US military transport jet.
Last night US President Joe Biden said he stood “squarely behind” the decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan, vowing not to let the war enter a “third decade”.
Despite Allied intentions to withdraw armed forces entirely by next month, both the US and the UK are sending in further troops to assist with evacuation efforts, a move that armed forces minister James Heappey said would make controlling Kabul airport easier.
The Afghanistan veteran, who said the UK Government had been working on the premise that Kabul would hold until next year, told BBC Newsnight.