UK tells Afghans promised sanctuary in Britain they must make their own way to safety
The UK government has announced it will no longer provide evacuation assistance to nearly 9,000 Afghans approved for resettlement in Britain, requiring them to make their own way to a third country. Defence minister Luke Pollard cited increased successful self-evacuations, risk assessments, and cost considerations as reasons for ending in-country support. Eligible individuals will still receive housing and visa support in third countries until the programme ends in December 2028.
- ▪The Ministry of Defence has halted evacuation assistance for nearly 9,000 Afghans approved for resettlement in the UK.
- ▪Eligible Afghans must now make their own way to a third country to access housing and visa support before the programme ends in December 2028.
- ▪The Afghan Resettlement Programme was previously committed to relocating all eligible individuals by March 2029, but a new deadline of December 2028 has been set.
- ▪The MoD cited cost, risk assessments, and evidence of successful self-evacuations as reasons for ending in-country assistance.
- ▪The Afghan resettlement schemes closed to new applicants in July 2025 after a major data breach involving the MoD put thousands of applicants at risk.
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NewsUKHome NewsUK tells Afghans promised sanctuary in Britain they must make their own way to safetyDespite previous promises to honour debt to Afghans, Ministry of Defence halts evacuation help for families promised new lives in BritainHolly Bancroft Home Affairs Correspondent Tuesday 28 April 2026 17:20 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2966385","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/afghans-britain-resettlement-taliban-visa-b2966385.html","title":"UK tells Afghans promised sanctuary in Britain they must make their…
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