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16
Jun 2021
Harrogate council set to offer homes to four Afghan families
Harrogate Borough Council looks set to offer homes in the district to four Afghan families as part of a UK government scheme.
The government has said thousands of Afghans who worked for the British army, mostly interpreters, will be offered resettlement in the UK as the armed forces withdraw from the country.
Senior council officers have recommended the authority commits to taking part in the scheme.
A report due before the council’s cabinet next week says up to four families, totalling 19 people, would be offered resettlement.
It said:
If approved, the council expects the first three families to arrive from Afghanistan this summer.
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The council has previously taken part in other resettlement programmes, including Syrian refugees when 13 families were relocated between July 2016 and April 2017.
Earlier this month, Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, announced the government intended to accelerate the resettlement scheme.
The government’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, which was published on April 1, intends to relocate those who worked with the military alongside the UK’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Under the policy, any current or former locally employed staff assessed to be under serious threat to life are offered priority relocation to the UK regardless of employment status, rank or role, or length of time served.
Mr Wallace said:
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