I hope constituents will be pleased to hear that today, the Government announced further details of ‘Operation Warm Welcome’, ensuring Afghans arriving in the UK receive the vital support they need to rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education, and integrate into their local communities.
My colleagues are determined to ensure Afghans who have had to flee their homes receive the vital support they need to rebuild their lives and have a future with stability and security.
That is why the Government have launched ‘Operation Warm Welcome’, which includes making at least £12 million available to provide additional school places so children can be enrolled as soon as possible, £3 million of additional NHS funding so that Afghan arrivals can access healthcare and register with a GP once they leave quarantine, as well as funding for undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships at UK universities, providing free of charge English language courses, working with councils and providing them with £5 million funding for support with housing, and appointing a specific Minister for Afghan Resettlement.
Furthermore, it has been announced that those Afghans coming to the UK who worked closely with the British military and UK Government in Afghanistan, and risked their lives in doing so, will now receive indefinite leave to remain.
We owe an immense debt to the brave Afghans who worked alongside us and this will give them and their families the support they need to rebuild their lives here in the UK
Our first priority in Afghanistan remains ensuring that all those eligible to resettle in the UK can leave safely. The Government have been clear that the Taliban must adhere to their own stated commitments to ensure safe passage, beyond 31 August.
That is why the Prime Minister’s special representative for Afghan transition, Simon Gass, yesterday travelled to Doha to meet with senior Taliban representatives to underline the importance of safe passage out of Afghanistan for British nationals, and those Afghans who have worked with us over the past 20 years.
Together with our partners and allies, I know we will continue to use every humanitarian and diplomatic lever to ensure the safe passage out of Afghanistan, safeguard human rights, and protect the gains made over the last two decades.
Finally, a portal has been created to, according to the gov.uk website, "allow the government to collect and process offers of additional housing support for people arriving from Afghanistan, where those offers are for entire homes and from property owners, organisations or companies." To access the Afghanistan housing portal, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-housing-portal-o…