Earlier this week, RLS Supervising Lawyer Freya Morgan appeared on BBC South to highlight the delays many Afghans are facing whilst awaiting a decision from the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). We were also featured in a BBC South article.
The article explains Muhammed Khan’s story. He was resettled in the UK in 2021, as he assisted UK sources before Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021. Sadly, he was separated from his wife and children in the chaos of the evacuation.
His family managed to escape to Pakistan. However, the government there is threatening to deport thousands of Afghans with a deadline of 31st March. They’re scared they’ll be targeted by the Taliban if they’re deported back to Afghanistan.
Last summer, the UK government announced the ACRS Separated Families Pathway. This route allows partners and children separated from their families during the evacuation of Afghanistan to apply to join them in the UK.
At first, this announcement gave Mr Khan hope that he would be reunited with his family after three years. But, it’s been 6 months and he is still waiting for a Home Office decision.
At the end of last year, RLS submitted a freedom of information request. This found that of the 2,511 applications received by the Home Office before the October deadline for ACRS, only 88 had been successful and 361 had been refused.
RLS supervising lawyer, Freya Morgan, states: “every day that people are left in limbo, the government is failing them.”
The government also “needs to be clear as to how it will prioritise cases because everyone’s family reunion is important but there are people who are at real and imminent risk.”
The Home Office claims they are processing referrals for the Separated Families Pathway “at pace.” However, many Afghan families are still waiting in limbo with no indication of when they’ll hear a decision. This isn’t good enough.
Last year, we published “Still Waiting: the Afghans Abandoned by the UK.” This report evaluates the available resettlement schemes. We made several urgent and scheme-specific recommendations to the government, including the introduction of regular and clear communication.
The UK government needs to fulfil their promises to Afghans. We urge them to communicate a clear timeline for when ACRS decisions will be made, and to show how cases will be prioritised depending on the imminent risk.
You can read the full article here.
