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Ministers have suddenly closed the UK scheme for resettling Afghan citizens who worked alongside the British government during the two decades before the Taliban returned to power.
Immigration rule changes, buried in a 138-page page Home Office document, announced the end of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme, as the Labour government tries to lower immigration to the UK.
The document, published on Tuesday, gave until 3pm that same day for final applications.
A related programme that offered potential relocation for a wider group of vulnerable Afghans including minorities, the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), was also closed.
Luke Pollard, armed forces minister, speaking after the deadline had passed, said the decision had been made as the vast majority of new applications under Arap were now found to be ineligible.
“We have said all along that these schemes cannot continue indefinitely,” Pollard said, adding that 95 per cent of new applications to Arap were being rejected.
“This shows that we have honoured our obligation and commitment that we set out to repay when the scheme was established,” he noted.
Pollard added that so far “over 34,000 Afghans have successfully relocated to the UK and started rebuilding their lives in this country”.
The Ministry of Defence said that all applications made before the scheme’s closure would be processed, including considering immediate family members
“However, no new applications will be accepted following the closure of the scheme,” the MoD said.
The Sulha Alliance, a group which campaigns for Afghan interpreters who served the British Army, said the closure of both resettlement programmes with immediate effect had come as a surprise.
“It is clear that financial and bureaucratic considerations rather than reduction of threats to those left in Afghanistan, are the primary factors in this decision,” the group said.
It warned of the possibility that “eligible individuals will remain at risk, or will seek to use irregular routes, including small boats, following the closure of Arap”, it added.
The MoD’s website said the Arap scheme was never designed to be “an obligation, or imply a commitment, to assist those who worked for or with the UK government in other countries or theatres of operation, past, present or future”.
