Afghan Refugees in U.K. Are Still in Limbo as Ukrainians Arrive

LONDON — A toddler cries on his mom’s lap whereas his twin naps just a few toes away. The mom hushes their older siblings, who’re watching movies on an iPad within the subsequent room.

The mom, Seema Mohammed; her husband, Eid Mohammed; and their 5 kids have lived in two adjoining resort rooms south of London since November after they fled Afghanistan. It’s a cramped and claustrophobic existence that seems like limbo whereas they await everlasting housing. However a reminder of what they left behind is just a video name away: Mr. Mohammed’s elder brother, a health care provider and former police officer, is in hiding again dwelling and desperately on the lookout for a method out.

“It’s a wrestle,” Mr. Mohammed mentioned. “Dwelling a life is completely different than staying alive.” He was referring to the household he left in Afghanistan, however the identical sentiment may apply to his present state of affairs.

Britain evacuated about 16,000 folks from Afghanistan final 12 months, most of them throughout the chaotic last days of August because the Taliban immediately seized management of the nation. Most of them have been dwelling briefly in accommodations throughout Britain ever since, a state of affairs that British lawmakers have mentioned is more and more untenable.

In February, the federal government mentioned that simply 4,000 Afghans delivered to Britain throughout the mass evacuation had been moved into properties — leaving 12,000 nonetheless housed briefly in accommodations.

With a brand new and even bigger refugee disaster exploding a lot nearer to dwelling now, officers are speaking about taking in tens of hundreds extra refugees from the battle in Ukraine. However the expertise of Afghans has raised questions on whether or not the nation can deal with a lot bigger numbers when it has nonetheless not managed to settle hundreds of Afghans many months after they arrived.

The federal government has provided numerous causes for the lack to search out everlasting properties for the Afghan evacuees, key amongst them a scarcity of reasonably priced housing throughout the nation. However critics of the federal government say the state of affairs can also be a results of inept planning, a scarcity of will and even a hostility towards asylum seekers and migrants basically.

“There’s a xenophobic angle underpinning immigration and asylum coverage within the U.Okay.,” mentioned Steve Valdez-Symonds, the refugee and migrant rights program director for Amnesty U.Okay.

This criticism has been echoed with reference to the British authorities response to the refugee disaster created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has pushed thousands and thousands of individuals from their properties. A lot of Europe has allowed the refugees to enter with out visas, however Britain has required visas and an utility course of that’s complicated many and slowing their arrival.

When requested concerning the delays in housing Afghan evacuees, the federal government mentioned that there was nonetheless no deadline to search out everlasting housing for all of them, and that it was matching folks with lodging as shortly as doable.

Most of these evacuated had labored in Afghanistan for the British army or authorities and fled with little greater than the garments on their backs, traumatized by their experiences.

Giant households at the moment are crowded into small rooms the place they can’t prepare dinner their very own meals, they usually have no idea the place or when they are going to be given a everlasting dwelling. Many mentioned they felt keen however unable to restart their lives.

Regardless of the troublesome circumstances, most Afghan refugees in Britain say they’re deeply grateful for the possibility at a protected future, with steady housing, ample meals and entry to medical care.

Nonetheless, Becky Brook, a volunteer with Kensington and Chelsea Mutual Assist, a neighborhood group supporting refugees in West London, mentioned the state of affairs was not sustainable. Households are more and more determined to maneuver on, amongst different causes, as a result of it’s troublesome for them to search out work in the event that they have no idea the place they are going to be dwelling.

“Being in accommodations long run just isn’t wholesome for anyone,” she mentioned.

For Khalil Motawakel, 37, who was evacuated from Afghanistan in August, having a everlasting dwelling close to London, the place he has managed to discover a job, would imply independence and safety. As a former authorities minister, he was as soon as liable for overhauling Afghanistan’s troubled jail system.

When it turned clear that the Taliban have been going to retake the nation and free its supporters from jail, he knew he can be a goal.

“Our lives have been below lethal menace,” he mentioned.

Mr. Motawakel, who earned a graduate diploma in public coverage on the College of Bristol in England, mentioned he had devoted his complete grownup life to strengthening democratic techniques in Afghanistan and by no means thought he can be pressured to go away.

When he arrived in England in August, he was eager to instantly restart his life, and by November, he had discovered a job at a world public relations agency. Now, he commutes just a few days per week to an workplace in London from his non permanent dwelling in a resort an hour north of town, the place he lives along with his spouse and small youngster.

Whereas they’ve the entire necessities, and he’s grateful for the assist, he’s looking forward to permanence.

“You’d prefer to take some form of possession over your life,” he mentioned. “It’s concerning the freedom of alternative.”

Organizations that assist refugees say the federal government system for absorbing migrants is flawed and underfunded. The Native Authorities Affiliation, which represents native councils tasked with guaranteeing that the wants of Afghan households are met, has requested the federal government for higher funding and coordination.

Final month, the federal government requested personal landlords to register out there properties on a relaunched housing portal. However the authorities’s reluctance to pay market worth for properties leaves restricted choices, mentioned Leyla Ferguson, the deputy director of West London Welcome, a charity aiding refugees and asylum seekers.

She mentioned the federal government’s failure to safe long-term housing was an issue for different asylum seekers lengthy earlier than Afghan refugees arrived final 12 months. Some 25,000 asylum seekers from completely different international locations, along with the Afghan evacuees, are additionally housed in accommodations, the federal government mentioned in February.

Charities and veterans have usually stepped in to fill the gaps left by authorities applications.

Matt Simmons, a veteran stationed in Afghanistan with the British Royal Air Drive within the early 2000s, arrange Ems4Afghans, a neighborhood support group in southern England that gives assist to the refugees nonetheless in accommodations.

“It’s going to be an extended street,” he mentioned. “Naïvely, everybody thought after they first arrived that by December, everybody can be in homes quickly.”

Mr. Simmons has helped numerous refugees, together with Mr. Mohammed, who praised him and different American and British former colleagues for his or her assist.

Mr. Mohammed had labored as a translator for British and American army forces and on a sequence of different internationally funded growth initiatives for years starting in 2005.

Lately, he traveled along with his household to Lincoln, England, to go to a cousin. Along with his kids on a college break, the journey was a welcome respite from monotonous resort life. It was additionally an opportunity to share home-cooked meals that they’d missed.

He described how he had savored one of many meals specifically — a dish fabricated from okra, greens and spices — that he had not had since leaving Afghanistan.

His kids bounced on a trampoline whereas he spoke on a video name to his elder brother, who’s in hiding in Afghanistan, and different relations there. The kids leaned ahead with extensive smiles and waved when their grandmother got here on the display.

Mr. Mohammed’s daughter, Sahar, threw her arms round his neck, her costume flowing with every bounce. There’s good right here, Mr. Mohammed mentioned, grateful to see his kids in class and protected.

“I can think about a vibrant future for my youngsters now,” he mentioned.

One other Afghan refugee, Abdul Sultani, mentioned his household was lucky to have obtained everlasting housing in November — a small home in northeast London.

“I’m not right here to only sit and watch. I’m right here to work,” he mentioned of the job he just lately began instructing English. He sends a few of the cash he earns to his household in Afghanistan.

Mr. Sultani, 33, labored as a translator with the British and U.S. army. He mentioned his kids have been crushed by members of the Taliban as they made their technique to the airport for his or her evacuation flight in August.

In the lounge, his 4-year-old daughter blows bubbles that her youthful sister pops, whereas he picks up a name: the native council providing English courses to his spouse.

They’re the rationale he knew he needed to depart Afghanistan, he mentioned, and seeing that they’ve begun rebuilding their lives offers him solace.

“Nonetheless, it’s not my dwelling. I’m only a visitor right here,” he mentioned. “However I’ll all the time act like a visitor and attempt to be helpful to them as a result of they helped me.”