First Afghan flight from Pakistan lands in United Kingdom

The first plane carrying Afghan refugees from Pakistan has arrived in the UK.

The airplane departed from Pakistan with 132 individuals onboard, according to officials in the country who spoke to the BBC.

Many people escaped from the Taliban in Afghanistan because they had worked with or for the UK government. These people are now in Pakistan and waiting to be moved to a new place.

Some of them used to translate for the British Army and teach for the British Council.

The UK government has arranged and hired 12 flights to bring people from Afghanistan to the UK by the end of December, as confirmed by the Civil Aviation Authority.

All the refugees are either in the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme or Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

They were told to go to Pakistan to get their visas, but charities say some people have been waiting there for over a year, and that many of their visas have now become invalid.

Earlier this month, Pakistan announced that it intended to begin sending back people who are in the country illegally starting from 1 November.

After the Taliban took over Afghanistan again in 2021, they said they would forgive and not punish people who helped the international forces. However, many Afghans still feel scared that they will get in trouble for what they did.

Some people told the BBC that they are worried they have put themselves in more danger by following the UK’s instructions to leave Afghanistan.

Qasim, a person using a fake name, was one of the people who helped the UK authorities.

Before we left Afghanistan, our lives were in danger half of the time. “He said that they are in complete danger now. ”

Pakistan has told 1. 7 million people from Afghanistan to leave the country.
The UK is requesting assistance to relocate more Afghan people who had been employed by them.

A document shared in court shows that the British authorities in Pakistan believe that people who are waiting for UK visas in Pakistan are likely to be sent back to their home country.

According to information from the government, about 3,250 people, including men, women, and children, are currently staying in guest houses and hotels in the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad.

While they are there, they cannot work legally and their kids cannot go to school.

A lot of people thought that when they first went to Pakistan, they would only have to wait there for a few weeks.

Court documents revealed that many people had to wait longer to come to the UK and stay in hotels because Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated that only in very rare situations could they be allowed to do so.

Instead, they had to find a place to stay for a longer period of time before they could move to a new location. An email said that this plan should save the taxpayer money overall.

The government has decided that people on relocation programmes will not have to find suitable housing before they move. The BBC has this information.