One in 5 Afghan refugees evicted from accommodations are homeless, councils counsel

One in 5 Afghan refugees evicted from resort lodging in England have offered to councils as homeless, in accordance with new figures branded “shameful”.

The Local Government Association has known as on ministers to pay to maintain resort locations open for longer as households wrestle to search out someplace to stay.

The LGA stated anecdotal proof suggests round 20% of Afghans who’ve been requested to go away accommodations are homeless and the scenario “will likely get worse in the coming weeks”.

Labour MP and former soldier Dan Jarvis, who served in Afghanistan, stated the figures had been “shameful”.

The UK promised a protected haven for hundreds of people that needed to flee their house nation because the Taliban swept again into energy in August 2021.

The majority of those that came visiting labored for the British authorities and armed forces in Afghanistan and have been residing in accommodations since arriving.

However the resort set-up was not meant to be everlasting and in April, the government started issuing three-month notices.

Mr Jarvis advised BBC’s Radio Four: “These are not economic migrants. These are Afghans who placed themselves in mortal peril to serve alongside British forces in Afghanistan and they did so at our request.

“These are folks to whom we have given an invite to come back to our nation. Nobody must be homeless and these folks must be given the time and house… to make sure that they’re correctly relocated.”

He stated whereas it was cheap to maneuver folks out of accommodations, councils want extra time to assist the households discover a appropriate place to stay.

“I think what we need to do is move at a pace that sees these Afghan families transition in a way that allows local authorities the time to identify suitable accommodation.

“The notion that persons are being compelled to change into homeless is simply shameful. And we’re creating one other set of issues.”

The Home Office said it has pumped £285m of new funding into the resettlement of Afghans into permanent accommodation.

But Shaun Davies, LGA chairman, said there is “enormous strain” on councils as they deal with “an acute scarcity of housing throughout the nation”.

Government figures published last month showed the overall numbers of households and children in temporary accommodation in England are at record highs.

Some 104,510 households were in temporary accommodation by the end of March – a 25-year high.

Mr Davies said the situation regarding Afghan refugees is causing “disruption and misery for households, a few of whom are significantly susceptible”.

“Government ought to pay to maintain resort locations open for these struggling to search out lodging. Hotels also needs to not be closed simply to change to changing into accommodations for different new arrivals, so councils can proceed to deal with discovering Afghan households properties and colleges.”

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Veterans minister Johnny Mercer stated: “Mr Jarvis is correct that these people aren’t illegal migrants. That’s exactly the reason why assisting them into settled accommodation in communities across the UK is the right thing to do.

“Local authorities have had loads of time to determine appropriate lodging – a few of these households have been in accommodations for over 18 months.

“But this is also about Afghan’s helping themselves, and central government has put forward a £285m package to assist with this.”

A authorities spokesperson stated: “Hotels are not, and were never designed to be, long-term accommodation and it is not in Afghans’ best interests to be living in hotel accommodation for months or years on end.

“We’ve seen good progress with Afghans leaving accommodations, with 10,500 Afghans up to now supplied with properties. We will proceed to offer in depth help, backed by £285m of recent funding to hurry up the resettlement of Afghans into everlasting lodging.”