A BESPOKE resettlement scheme for Afghans is due to be announced by the Prime Minister after the Taliban seized control of the country’s capital.
Boris Johnson is expected to announce details of the scheme, aimed particularly at women and girls, in the coming days and has continued to appeal for a coordinated international response to the crisis.
It comes after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that Taliban rule of Afghanistan was not what the UK Government wanted, but was a “new reality”.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace appeared emotional during interviews this afternoon, when he acknowledged that some people would not be able to get out of the country.
The new resettlement scheme is for Afghans who are most in need of help, but it is understood to be targeted at women and girls specifically.
This afternoon the Prime Minister chaired an emergency Cobra meeting – the third in four days – where he discussed the need for international cooperation with his senior ministers.
Officials were updated on the situation on the ground in Kabul and elsewhere and were told that around 900 Armed Forces personnel would soon be in the capital helping process those trying to leave.
Mr Johnson also spoke with French president Emanuel Macron, and is due to convene a virtual meeting of the other G7 leaders in the coming days about taking a coordinated approach towards Afghanistan.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The UK team in Afghanistan is working around the clock in incredibly difficult circumstances to help British nationals and as many others as we can get to safety as soon as possible.
“At the same time, we are bringing together the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis emerging in Afghanistan – it’s in everyone’s interest not to let Afghanistan fail.
“That means providing whatever support we can to the Afghan people who have worked so hard to make the country a better place over the last twenty years and who are now in need of our help.”
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