Plaid Cymru MPs urge UK Government not to ‘turn a blind eye’ on Afghan people
Plaid Cymru MPs say the UK Government has a responsibility to provide protection for the Afghan people who served alongside British forces.
In a joint statement, they call the situation in Afghanistan a ‘humanitarian disaster unfolding’ as Taliban forces take control of all major cities and the fall of Kabul seems imminent.
They describe the potentially ‘horrific’ implications for civilians and particularly women with reports that many are being denied access to basic freedoms such as work and education.
The statement from MPs Liz Saville Roberts MP, Hywel Williams MP and Ben Lake MP states: “After twenty years, over a quarter of a million civilians lives lost, thousands displaced, 457 British soldiers dead – with many more at home suffering from both mental and physical injuries because of this bitter war, the world looks on in horror at the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Afghanistan.
“The UK Government has a responsibility to provide refuge to all the Afghan people who served alongside British forces who are now at risk of being targeted by the Taliban, including interpreters, Afghans trained as special forces, and those people who set up schools for girls and helped NGOs,”
Visas
They call for visas to be urgently arranged for the 34 Afghans who are due to start scholarships at UK universities but have had their places suspended as their visas cannot be arranged in time.
They state: “We urge the UK Government and the international community not to turn a blind eye and to stand by their obligations and press any future Afghan government to protect and sustain progressive gains made in justice and education.”
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, MP Tom Tugendhat, has described the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as Britain’s biggest foreign policy disaster since the Suez crisis of 1956.
The latest reports suggest that Afghanistan president, Ashraf Ghani, has now left the country and the Taliban is ready to order its fighters to enter the capital of Kabul.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Not much Britain can do. They lost the war. The Taliban has secured total victory over GB, USA and the other paid actors.
First GB loses to Syria / Russia and betrayed the Kurdish people. Now they have capitulated to Taliban / Russia and betrayed the Afghan people.
We need out of this shameful s****y “Union”. I am sickened by the arrogance and the cowardice of this faded remnant of the Empire crime syndicate.
If we can weaken GB’s capacity for causing chaos on the world stage by leaving it, may that day come ASAP
We do what we can and to hell with UK politics and Tory politicians. Powys has a proud history of providing safety and a place of asylum to those less fortunate and should be proud of offering homes to three afghan interpreter families.
Priti Patel? (insert own epithet)
Agreed. I’d happily welcome them.
I wonder if we had never gone into Iraq in the first place and pooled all of our resources in Afghanistan would we have been able to defeat the Taliban? What a waste of 20 years & a waste of lives as well.
Have all of you liberal do gooders not noticed that the UK is vastly overcrowded as it is? You no doubt believe in rising sea levels when in fact Britain is slowly sinking into the ocean due to the bloody weight of so many flocking to our shores for free handouts.
Shame on the politicians for not looking after our own homeless first.