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24
Jun 2021
19 Afghans get homes in Harrogate district in resettlement scheme
A senior Harrogate borough councillor has said the district will be prepared to rehome more Afghan families after the authority agreed to take part in a resettlement scheme.
Up to four families totalling 19 people will be flown to the district in the coming months as fears for their safety grows, with international troops preparing to leave the country.
On the flight will be mostly former translators, their families and others whose lives are under threat because they worked for the British government during the two decades that the UK military has been fighting in Afghanistan.
A decision to welcome the families was agreed by Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet last night when Madeleine Bell, head of housing and property, said the authority had asked to take part in the relocation scheme which is now being accelerated as the security situation in Afghanistan worsens.
She said:
The Harrogate district has previously taken part in other resettlement programmes, including welcoming 13 Syrian families between 2016 and 2017.
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Cllr Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities at the council, said the families are not only offered a place to live, but also given opportunities to go to school, learn English and find employment.
He added that the authority would be prepared to resettle more families if it was required to do so.
'We will take more if necessary'
Cllr Chambers said:
Nationally, more than 3,000 Afghans are expected to be allowed to settle in the UK, joining 1,300 who have already done so.
A large number of translators were not eligible under a previous relocation scheme, which considered an applicant’s role and length of service.
But now any current or former locally-employed staff deemed to be under serious threat will be offered priority, regardless of their employment status, role, rank or length of service.
Announcing the acceleration of the scheme last month, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:
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