Bath & North East Somerset Council “stands ready” to help with plans to possibly resettle vulnerable Afghan refugees in the area, it has announced.
The Guildhall entrance in Bath | Photo © chrisdorney / Shutterstock.com
Recent weeks have seen a crisis unfold in Afghanistan, with the Taliban taking control of the country and thousands of people trying to leave in recent days.
The UK government has outlined plans to resettle up to 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan, with up to 5,000 to arrive within the first year.
Councillor Kevin Guy, council Leader, said: “Everyone has seen the appalling and heart-breaking situation in Afghanistan.
“We stand ready to work with the Government on any co-ordinated resettlement scheme they put forward to bring safety and security to people in need of our help.
“We are very proud of our successful programme to resettle Syrian refugees and what it has offered to the families we have welcomed here, and we want to offer a safe haven to vulnerable Afghan refugees in the same way.
“We look forward to working with central government on a well-organised and properly funded scheme as a matter of urgency.”
Councillor Dine Romero, cabinet member for Children and Young People, Communities and Culture, said: “We are fortunate to have excellent partners in Bath and North East Somerset, such as Julian House, Bath Welcomes Refugees and others, who provide a level of support for people in need that is second-to-none.
“We will continue to work closely with them to offer support to vulnerable refugees who urgently need our help.”
Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Planning and Licensing, added: “We were particularly grateful to those who came forward to offer suitable accommodation for the Syrian families we welcomed.
“We’ll need to redouble our efforts on this to support any similar scheme to help Afghans in need of resettlement.
“Our message to landlords and others who may have suitable accommodation to rent is ‘please come forward’ by contacting us at [email protected].”
Under Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Syrian resettlement programme adopted in 2016, five refugee families from Syria who settled in Bath five years ago chose to continue living in the city after recently being granted indefinite leave to remain.
