Toi correspondent from London: The UK government has discontinued two legal plans without warning, which helped over 34,000 Afghans in the UK, which expressed anger among Afghan migrant people.In the immigration rule placed in Parliament, on Tuesday, the Afghan transfer and aid policy (ARAP) for new applications was abolished. The scheme launched in April 2021 was for those who helped Britain fight the Taliban or who worked for the UK government and feared breed.The Afghan Citizen Rehabilitation Scheme (ACRS), which was also opened in January 2022 to help women, girls and minority groups to come to the UK legally.Migration Minister Seema Balahra said that the UK will not launch any way ahead.Director of Afghanistan and Central Asian Association in London, Dr. Norolak Naseemi, who helps Afghan refugees in Britain, was angry about the closure and said that Afghans were facing “daily insults” by the UK Press. “If they welcome the people of Ukraine and Hong Kong, there should be no discrimination against the Afghans. Trump has done the same thing by imposing a blanket ban on the Afghans,” he told TOI.He said, “The UK Press is promoting bad things about the Afghan society. We were once part of the Persian civilization and invented a lot of good things,” he said, closing all legal routes means that more Afghans will come illegally in Britain.Nasimi said that even two schemes had not removed the right people till date. “Most of the Afghans vacated so far are from a Pashtun background, with tribal links with the Taliban. They have come to the UK, got their residence, and have returned to Afghanistan to support the Taliban. Pashtuns are rich and now live in palaces. But those who were really worthy of coming, for example the person working with NATO, is still stuck in Afghanistan or facing exile from Pakistan and Iran. There are women, girls, musicians and workers who are trapped in Afghanistan who want to come to Britain. We are made daily contact with those who tried to come through these schemes who never received any response. Millions of starvation have to be faced. ,Defense Secretary John Heli said that ARAP cannot be “not minimized so that defense efforts and resources can be focused on where they need the most – on the security of our country.”More than 12,800 Afghans have been settled in Britain under ACRS. By 31 March, 2025, 21,316 Afghans were transferred under ARAP. Another 22,000 ARAP applicants are in a backlog.
