Afghans who helped UK forces to be housed in Welsh military camp

Dozens of Afghan citizens who risked their lives to support the UK’s operations in Afghanistan are to be housed in a military camp in Wales.

About 50 people will be moved into East Camp, a Ministry of Defence housing estate in St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan, by the end of the month, with more joining them in mid-April.

The site can host up to 180 people and will be used by families who are eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap).

Arap supports people and their families who worked for, or with, the UK government and British armed forces in Afghanistan – such as interpreters.

The initiative was implemented on April 1, 2021, and remains open.

It aims to honour the service of eligible Afghan citizens by providing support that reflects their work, while ensuring that they and their family members who relocate to the UK can permanently build their lives there.

Afghan citizens who are eligible for relocation to the UK under Arap may come with a partner, dependent children and additional family members who are deemed eligible by the Ministry of Defence and suitable for relocation by the Home Office.

A Defence Ministry representative said: “We owe a debt of gratitude to those brave Afghans who risked their lives working alongside our forces in support of the UK mission.

“To ensure Arap-eligible families can begin a settled life in the UK as quickly as possible, the UK government is offering transitional and settled accommodation from the Defence Estate, including at East Camp St Athan.

“Eligible Afghans will be housed there temporarily for an approximate period of six weeks before moving to more settled accommodation.”

Afghan women living under Taliban rule – in pictures

Women wash freshly dyed silk in a factory in Herat province. Whether Afghan girls receive an education under the Taliban is turning into an issue of wealth, young women living under the regime say. AFP

Afghan women walk in a Kandahar market. Even if Afghan girls can receive an education, the likelihood they will be able to put it to any use is low. AFP

An Afghan women weaves silk to make scarfs and other products inside a workshop in the Zandajan district of Herat province. Many Afghan girls fear the longer they stay away from school, the more pressure will build to conform to patriarchal standards and marry. AFP

Burqa-clad women work in a shampoo factory in Kandahar. AFP

Women make flatbread in a factory in Kandahar. AFP

An Afghan woman begs as Taliban fighters stand guard in Kabul. Amnesty International says the Taliban have breached women’s and girls’ rights to education, work and free movement since they took control of the government. EPA

Afghan women take a selfie at a park in Kabul. The rates of child, early and forced marriage in Afghanistan are increasing under Taliban rule, Amnesty International has said. EPA

Afghan girls paint at a workshop class in Herat. The World Bank estimates that for each year of secondary education, the likelihood of marrying before the age of 18 decreases by five percentage points or more. AFP

Afghan women protest in Kabul. The lives of Afghan women and girls are being destroyed by the Taliban’s crackdown on their human rights, Amnesty has said. AP

An Afghan woman walks in a graveyard in Kabul. EPA

Shgofe, an Afghan newscaster, presents a programme on private channel 1TV in Kabul. Female TV presenters and reporters in Afghanistan continue to appear with their faces covered to comply with a mandate issued by the Taliban. EPA

An Afghan family walk past a market near the Pul-e Khishti Mosque in Kabul. AFP

People at Wazir Akbar Khan Hill in Kabul. Whether Afghan girls receive an education under the Taliban is turning into an issue of wealth, young women living under the regime say. AFP

Shahla Arif Yar, an Afghan women’s rights activist attends an event in Kabul. Activists gathered to demand that the Taliban government give more rights to women, open up high schools to girls and include women in an assembly of scholars and leaders known as Loya Jirga. EPA

Women browse through garments and fabrics for sale in a stall at a women’s handicraft market in Herat. AFP

Brides wait for the start of a mass wedding in Kabul. Dozens of Afghan women, concealed in thick green shawls, were married off in an austere ceremony attended by hundreds of guests and gun-toting Taliban fighters. AFP

Afghan women on the streets of Kabul take the initiative to exhibit their books, on the occasion of Book Week. A number of women exhibitors have launched a bookstore in the Afghan capital with the aim of promoting reading. EPA

Afghan girls study inside a one-classroom private educational centre in the Panjwai district of Kandahar. AFP

The Defence Ministry said it is working with the Welsh government and the Vale of Glamorgan Council to ensure that the project is managed “with everybody in mind”, especially those who live locally.

In November 2023, the government announced that about 3,000 Afghans in Pakistan would move to the UK by the end of the year under Arap after the Pakistan government carried out a clampdown on people thought to be living in the country illegally.

The UK also operates a second programme called the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) to relocate Afghan citizens who assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for British values, including “democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech and rule of law”, as well as “extremely vulnerable” people such as women and girls at risk and members of minority groups.

The government has committed to welcoming up to 20,000 people over the coming years through ACRS.

It has, however, come under criticism by some who claim the programme’s narrow operation is unlawful and that at-risk people who had a “legitimate expectation” of being considered under the ACRS are excluded instead.

They include a women’s rights activist who specialised in prosecuting cases involving violence against women, forced marriage and honour crimes and is now challenging the government in court about how it is operating the scheme.

So far, 25,042 Afghans have been brought to the UK under the Afghan Arap and ACRS schemes.

The Ministry of Defence has refused to carry out a “no-holds barred” inquiry into British involvement in Afghanistan including evacuation operations carried out as the Taliban retook power in 2021, during which airlifts rescued 15,000 people at risk from the militant group but which left many behind at the time.