Thousands of Afghan refugees – some of whom worked for the UK government in the country – face being made homeless just days before Christmas after the Home Office imposed a fresh deadline to eject them from hotels.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has come under pressure to provide more resources for those fleeing conflict and persecution after a new date to evict asylum seekers from hotels was announced.
According to Guardian reports, those currently housed in hotels will have to find alternative accommodation by 15th December, just days before Christmas.
It has raised fears that thousands of Afghans could be made homeless in the UK – including people who assisted with British operations in the country.
Shaun Davies, chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA), said: “Councils are becoming increasingly concerned over the numbers of Afghan and Ukrainian families presenting as homeless, which is likely to dramatically increase when Home Office accommodation is withdrawn as a result of the current clearance of the asylum backlog.”
An internal LGA briefing note on the plight of Afghan refugees who came to the UK in 2021 adds: “Councils remain hugely concerned that some families – some of whom are particularly vulnerable and will have ongoing medical conditions – may have to end up presenting as homeless, particularly given the lack of available housing stock for larger and multi-generational families.”
The LGA says some Afghans who served UK interests in Afghanistan could already be sleeping rough having been moved out of hotels by the government more than two years after being evacuated from Kabul.
In August, veterans’ affairs minister Johnny Mercer said he would have failed if Afghans who worked for the UK government ended up living on the streets.
“That’s not happened. And that is not going to happen,” he said.
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