Afghans who risked their lives helping UK to be housed on Welsh military camp
A military camp in Wales will be used to house scores of people fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan, who risked their lives to support the UK.
East Camp, a Ministry of Defence (MoD) housing estate in St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, will house 50 people by the end of the month, with more joining them in mid-April.
The site, which can host a maximum of 180, will be used by families who are eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
Interpreters
ARAP supports people and their families who worked for, or with, the UK government and British armed forces in Afghanistan – such as interpreters.
An MoD spokesperson said: “We owe a debt of gratitude to those brave Afghans who risked their lives working alongside our forces in support of the UK mission.
“To ensure ARAP-eligible families can begin a settled life in the UK as quickly as possible, the UK Government is offering transitional and settled accommodation from the Defence Estate, including at East Camp St Athan.
Temporarily
“Eligible Afghans will be housed there temporarily for an approximate period of six weeks before moving to more settled accommodation.”
Afghan citizens who are eligible for relocation to the UK under ARAP may come with a partner, dependent children and additional family members who are deemed eligible by the MoD and suitable for relocation by the Home Office.
Those who arrive in the UK under the ARAP scheme have indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
The MoD said it is working with the Welsh Government and the Vale of Glamorgan Council to ensure that the project is managed “with everybody in mind”, especially those who live locally.
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I do hope that locals will welcome these people who have sacrificed so much at the alter of Anglo American warmongering, dishonesty and lethal foreign policy.
You are dead right. Despite the housing crisis and the long term woeful lack of response to escalating demand these people have to be treated with compassion. Many will have skill sets which can be put to good use and enable them to live independently so the onus is on government agencies to crack on and integrate them.
I hope so too. But locals didn’t particularly like RAF personel when it was a real military base.
We should learn a lot from the terrible treatment of the ghurkas and how heroes with no tangible link to the UK were treated. These Afghans risked their lives to help our troops, they need to be looked after and given the chance to start a new life.
Why are they being expelled from Pakistan? There is between 20,000 and 1.4 million being expelled. So where will they live in Cardiff as there is an 11 year waiting list for social housing.? Impossible to get a dentist or a GP already. Difficult
All refugees should be treated with such care.
So too the rest of the population surely. Human rights is for everyone not a chosen few. In the UK millions are hungry and homeless, and that applies to Wales too.
That didn’t come across bigoted like a Farage comment, did it. When people stop voting to put all down, we get better. The vale has a nasty habit of backing the wrong people.