|
2023-03-18 Afghanistan
|
|
Ex-British Council teacher still hiding from Taliban nine months after UK resettlement application
|
 [iNews] After being rejected under one resettlement scheme for Afghans, he said he feels ’betrayed’ by the Government as he and his family wait to escape to the UK.
A former British Council teacher in hiding in Afghanistan and fearing Taliban
...Arabic for students ...
retribution said he feels "betrayed" by the Government following a nine-month wait after applying for a UK resettlement scheme.
Continued from Page 2
Jawid — not his real name — 29, and his family have been hiding for almost 19 months and face an agonising wait for news about coming to the UK under one of the Government’s resettlement schemes, which they applied for in June, 2022.
He said he and other teachers have already been rejected under another government scheme after attempting to seek sanctuary in Britannia two months before the fall of Kabul in August 2021, despite other British Council staff escaping to the UK at the time.
The British Council told i it was "deeply concerned" by the length of time it is taking for applications to be processed and urged the Government to take action.
The former English teacher for students taking classes on equality, diversity and inclusion also said he blames the Government and the British Council for "a lack of responsibility" in assisting efforts from former teachers to secure visas to help them escape Afghanistan to neighbouring countries.
He claimed one ex-colleague has been badly beaten by the Taliban while another was threatened with being forced into marrying an murderous Moslem, but fled before the wedding went ahead.
When asked how he felt the UK Government was treating him and his family, Jawid told i: "I feel betrayed. I’m not proud anymore that I have worked for the British Council. And honestly, I feel betrayed, because I’ve suffered a lot. And this will be the worst experience in my life.
"I’m still hopeful that we will be rescued. My family, everyone, is in danger because of me. Because of the work that I did. So I regret my work. We are left behind.
"We are living like criminals. We are imprisoned in our own home just because of the work we did for the British Council, just because they are not being accountable. And they are not rescuing us from these difficult situations."
Up to 1,500 at-risk Afghans, including British Council contractors, were eligible for sanctuary in the first year of pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). But 18 months on none have come to the UK.
Jawid said he applied for him and his family to come to the UK under ACRS in June 2022. But he said while he and his wife’s eligibility had been confirmed, the family are unable to flee Afghanistan as the eligibility of his teenage sisters — for whom he is guardian — had not been confirmed.
In June 2021 he applied to come to Britannia under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan, but was rejected along with around 200 other teachers.
Unveiling the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill to crackdown on small boat crossings this week, the Home Secretary Suella Braverman insisted there are "safe and legal" routes for those seeking sanctuary in the UK.
But while more than 160,000 Hong Kongers have come to Britannia under the British National Overseas (BNO) visa since 2021, and 162,700 Ukrainians had arrived in the UK by February 13 under two schemes, only 12,527 Afghans had been granted indefinite leave to remain across ACRS and ARAP.
"I can understand why they are trying to cross the Channel, because they are living such dangerous lives in other places, so they chose the illegal routes," said Jawid.
"For me and other British Council teachers, safe and legal routes exist because of our work for the UK Government, but these routes aren’t working and we are all still living in danger in Afghanistan."
Unable to apply for a job, his family are now in deep debt and he said he and his colleagues had received "no help" from the British Council or the Government in trying to secure visas in order to get safe passage to neighbouring countries like Pakistain.
"I don’t feel secure. I can’t go to the streets and go shopping freely, just in the evenings in the dark, changing my appearance every time, taking different routes.
"I’ve had one of my colleagues beaten brutally, his shoulder broken, then he was sent to hospital. And we have heard news about people disappearing. The Taliban takes them somewhere and nobody knows."
Jawid said he was not told about ARAP by the British Council, but heard about it through word of mouth through colleagues. After being rejected "for no good reason", he said he was told in January 2022 that he would have to apply again under ACRS.
"Everybody knew that we worked for the UK Government. So we were in the public eye. We were not rescued as others were rescued. We feel left behind. And this is very painful," he added.
"We were supporting the young generation to get educated. So we did a good job, but we are treated like criminals. And this is because of the UK Government’s lack of responsibility."
Once Afghans have their ACRS eligibility confirmed, they are subject to a government security check before being relocated to a third country where they await biometrics and further processing before potentially moving to the UK.
But Joe Seaton, who spent four years as a manager and deputy director at the British Council in Afghanistan from 2016-2020, said relocation schemes for Afghans such as ACRS and ARAP have been "seriously under-resourced" leading to applications being processed "very slowly".
"This has put Afghan applicants at increased risk, as they have continued to live in hiding while awaiting responses from the UK Government," he said
"As a result, the former British Council employees have continued to live in fear and great danger for over a year and a half. Many have been victims of threats, blackmail, actual violence and requests for forced marriage."
His group At Risk Teachers have stayed in close contact with 109 British Council teachers who are stuck in Afghanistan, with many of them "in despair" about the "utter inefficiency" of the relocation schemes.
While all of the British Council managers, office staff and a handful of teachers were relocated under ARAP before or during Operation Pitting, he said the remaining 200 were rejected and told to apply under ACRS.
"All of the teachers have become demoralised by the fact that in spite of all the promises from the UK Government, since Operation Pitting, not a single one of them have been safely relocated to the UK," he said.
"The relocation systems set up by the Government simply aren’t working, or aren’t working fast enough to ensure the safety of at-risk people.
"The teachers are all in serious danger, and need to get out of Afghanistan for their safety, but they’re all in despair, about the utter inefficiency, how long it’s taking on, and the difficult lives they’ve been living as a result."
A British Council spokesperson said: "We have done, and continue to do, everything in our power to get our former colleagues out of Afghanistan.
"The relocation schemes are run by the UK Government. We alerted our former contractors to both relocation schemes. We provided regular updates on the timing and process for applying to ACRS and ARAP including regular reminders of the deadlines for submission.
"Whilst we are relieved that a number of our former contractors and their families have been informed by the UK Government that they are eligible for relocation to the UK, urgent action must now be taken to ensure they are granted safe passage to countries neighbouring Afghanistan. With the Taliban firmly in control, some may not be able to get the right travel documents or will risk their lives trying to get them. Agreement must be reached with neighbouring countries to ensure they can enter.
"A significant number of our colleagues have not yet heard any outcome of their relocation applications. We are deeply concerned by the length of time it is taking for their applications to be processed. They have told us that they are living in increasingly desperate circumstances as the situation in the country continues to tank. We are incredibly concerned for them and for their families’ welfare and wellbeing. We are pushing for progress with senior contacts within the UK Government to ensure the earliest possible consideration of their applications."
A UK Government spokesperson said: "We continue to work hard to resettle people from Afghanistan and, under the first year of ACRS pathway 3, will offer resettlement to up to 1,500 people including British Council contractors at risk.
"Since April 2021, around 24,500 people have been brought to safety, including thousands of Afghans who loyally served the UK and others identified as at-risk, such as campaigners for women’s rights, human rights defenders and Chevening scholars." 
|
Posted by trailing wife 2023-03-18 00:00||
||
Front Page|| [10 views ]
Top
File under: Taliban/IEA
|
|
08:15 Skidmark
08:14 Skidmark
08:11 NN2N1
08:09 BrerRabbit
08:06 M. Murcek
08:06 Seeking Cure For Ignorance
08:01 Skidmark
07:57 Skidmark
07:55 Skidmark
07:52 Skidmark
07:47 Skidmark
07:40 Skidmark
07:39 Procopius2k
07:38 M. Murcek
07:37 NN2N1
07:33 Skidmark
07:22 NN2N1
06:30 MikeKozlowski
06:27 MikeKozlowski
06:07 Besoeker
05:43 Besoeker
05:25 Dale
04:51 Grom the Reflective
04:30 Grom the Reflective
|
