It’s been two years since the Taliban took over Afghanistan. The takeover caused a wave of displacement with plethora of refugees from the country coming to the UK and other countries. The UK, as per reports provided refuge to over 20,000 people who escaped Afghanistan.
Reports say that Bradford, took in over 200 Afghan refugees.
Now, a new report titled, ‘Welcoming Afghans’ by UK based charity, ‘More in Common’ has revealed that most of the families have been, “let down” as most of the families have been stuck at Government provided hotels and are unable to move into a permanent house.
“Afghan families did not experience the warm welcome that they deserved, and the government promised,” the report notes.
The report suggests that while almost 10,000 Afghan refugees have already been moved to a permanent home, almost 9,000 still remain in hotels or service accommodation. The report further notes that half of these are children.
Housing has been a major challenge faced by the Afghan refugees, upon being surveyed by the report, three in five Afghan respondents (59 per cent) said they knew ‘nothing’ or ‘very little’ about housing options; even more knew little about housing offered by councils (72 per cent), while three in five (55 per cent) knew little about the options in the private rental sector.
Some respondents also point out at a lack of communication between local authorities and the Government, which resulted in problems with their housing.
A respondent recalls, “During mid 2022 we were offered a council house which was close enough to my studies and my wife’s relatives. However, after accepting the offer, the local authority didn’t accept us. It was mainly due to a miscommunication between the LA and HO. The reason wasn’t declared. However, we have heard from unofficial sources that 2 bedrooms wasn’t enough to accommodate my family. As a result, we had faced high levels of anxiety and depression while our hopes vanished and stayed another year in a small hotel room with little children.”
Another respondent is quoted in the report, “I searched nearly 6 months for an accommodation for myself and my family, I viewed more than 35 houses and filled nearly 30 application forms for them and almost every one of them got rejected.”
Even in cases, financial solutions are offered by the local councils, the local landlords refuse to let the house.
A respondent as quoted in the report said, “I viewed and filled applications for more than 20 houses none of the landlords agreed to give me her/his house because I don’t have the background of renting a house in UK, even I have a good job and the council office is paying the 6 months’ rent upfront but that is not important for the landlords.”
Reacting to the report, Sunder Katwala, Director of thinktank British Future, said:
“The welcome for many of those evacuated from Afghanistan has been far from warm. Some have spent those last two years in cramped hotel rooms and now face eviction, with uncertainty about what happens next.
“The Government should be doing more to set this right. As we mark this second anniversary, it should look again at how to unlock the appetite across British society – from faith groups, military charities, and citizens – to play an active part in helping Afghan families settle in Britain.”
Conleth Burns, Senior Associate at More in Common says:
“Afghans families have been let down by the government’s failure to live up to its promise of offering a warm welcome. After two years in cramped hotel accommodation across the country, Afghans families face further uncertainty with eviction notices coming into force in the coming weeks. Lessons need to be learned from what has worked and what hasn’t over the last two years.
“Our research shows that community-led approaches to refugee welcome (modelled on the Homes for Ukraine scheme) can work for those who need our help from other countries and command the confidence of the British public.”
Taliban had taken over Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, following withdrawal of US and allied troops from the country in May 2021. The Taliban launched an offensive on the civilian Government and eventually captured the capital city of Kabul on 15 August 2021. Since then, tens of thousands of Afghan citizens have fled the country and taken refugees in other nations.