UK rips up harsh refugee rule that separated Afghan families

Afghan refugees will finally be reunited with families they had to leave behind when they were flown to the United Kingdom to escape retribution from the Taliban, after winning a three-year campaign. A rule change will allow the refugees to bring over spouses, partners, and children, many of whom are trapped in Pakistan at risk of deportation back to Afghanistan after a crackdown by the government in Islamabad. The previous Conservative government broke a commitment to help potentially thousands of people separated from their loved ones — including father-of-two Muhammad, whose story was revealed by Devex — but the new Labour administration has now opened a three-month window for applications. Muhammad, 31, a civil engineer who has completed a master’s degree in construction management since moving to the U.K., revealed his wife broke into tears when he phoned to tell her there is now hope they can be reunited. “My son, who is four, asked me where is London and what is it like,” he told Devex. “We are all very happy and excited that this route is opening up to bring my family to this country. “They are in hiding in Pakistan, without the freedom to go out, to go to the market. Recently, the police knocked on the door and my wife was afraid and stayed inside for five days.” Last September, Devex reported how Muhammad was among around 15,000 Afghans evacuated from Kabul to the U.K. in August 2021 because his life was in danger from the return of the Taliban due to the help he gave to the U.S.-led occupation. He was forced to leave without his family because bombs were going off at the airport and children were being “crushed” in the stampede, but U.K. officials told him “don’t worry” because they would join him later. Instead, the evacuees were denied full refugee status and granted “indefinite leave to remain” with no family reunion rights, under a rule condemned by aid organizations. His wife fled to Pakistan with their son Haris and daughter Hajwa, now aged three. In October, Parliament was told applications for family reunions would begin “in the first half of 2024” — but Conservative ministers failed to act before the July 4 general election that brought Labour to power. In the statement on Tuesday, the Home Office announced family reunions will now be permitted for refugees who, like Muhammad, came to the U.K. under Pathway 1 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme. “This new pathway offers long-awaited hope.” --— Khusbu Patel, interim executive director, International Rescue Committee UK “It is our moral duty to ensure that families who were tragically separated are reunited and are not left at the mercy of the Taliban,” said U.K. immigration minister Seema Malhotra, adding: “Afghans did right by us, and we will do right by them.” Khusbu Patel, interim executive director of the International Rescue Committee UK, welcomed the move, saying: “Many Afghans who were evacuated to the UK in August 2021 have endured prolonged separation from loved ones, experiencing an immense psychological toll, and this new pathway offers long-awaited hope.” Muhammad was forced to travel to Pakistan to register his wife and children with the UN Refugee Agency — but the protection this provided against expulsion to Afghanistan expired at the end of June, underlining the urgency of the situation. He is now working with a support group in Oxfordshire called Asylum Welcome to make an application. His wife and children would then need to provide biometrics and travel documents at a visa application center to gain permission to move to the U.K. and restart their family life together. Muhammad, who hopes to work as a site manager, said: “The U.K. government saved my life, so I want to use the skills I have gained both in Afghanistan and here to benefit this country.”