Dear Prime Minister, help Afghan families reunite
Today, Safe Passage and over 100 Afghan activists and organisations have written to the Prime Minister asking the Government to help Afghans evacuated to the UK bring family to join them in safety.
Amir, Safe Passage International Young Leader, who arrived in the UK from Afghanistan through Operation Pitting evacuations in August 2021 and was seperated from his family in the process, handed in the letter at No 10.
The letter in full:
17 January 2023
Dear Prime Minister,
Nearly eighteen months since Operation Pitting, we are deeply concerned that families torn apart during the evacuation remain separated.
We are asking you, Prime Minister, to honour the commitments made to Afghan families. Will you today recommit to reunite families separated during the evacuations as the Government promised? Living in uncertainty, Afghan refugees are desperate to know that you have not forgotten their loved ones and will deliver on the promises made as Kabul fell.
Brothers and sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives were separated in the chaos of trying to get on a flight in August 2021. At the time, your Government rightly recognised that families belong together and promised that those airlifted to safety would be resettled with their loved ones. However, nearly a year and a half on families are being kept apart because no process has been put in place for their reunification under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme.
It is hard for those in the UK to carry on and move forward whilst desperately missing their relatives left behind – their lives are not complete without their loved ones. Evacuees are trying to rebuild their lives in the UK but can only think of family they long to see in safety – including women, girls, those from vulnerable religious and ethnic minority communities. Many are struggling to concentrate in school, start work despite being highly skilled or settle into life here after sleepless nights worrying about family in hiding and at extreme risk. The separation is causing colossal strain on the mental health of families.
Separated families cannot wait a day longer. They need a quick and effective route to family reunion so that they can hug and hold each other again. The Ukraine Family Scheme shows that the Government can help families reunite at pace. Today, just as the Government rightly responded to save Ukrainian lives, we ask that you act with the same urgency to bring Afghan families to safety.
Families and the charities supporting them are anxious to find a solution. Will you meet with representatives of these families and charities, who can share their experiences and work with you to develop a way forward?
Yours sincerely,
Abdulali
Abdullah Farroukh
Abdulrahman Bdiwi, Young Leaders at Safe Passage
Afsana Hamidy
Alice Giuliato, Head of Services, RAMFEL
Alison Pickup, Director, Asylum Aid
Amber Bauer, CEO, forRefugees
Amir, Photographer
Andrea Cleaver, CEO, Welsh Refugee Council
Anna Jones, Co-Founder & CEO, RefuAid
Aryan Sanghrajka, Founder and Managing Director, Forced to Flee
Ayesha
Bahar, Chair of Bahar Women`s association
Bashir Fatehi
Becky Hart, Supervising Lawyer, Afghan Pro Bono Initiative
Ben Gilchrist, Chief Executive, Caritas Shrewsbury
Beth Gardiner-Smith, Safe Passage International
Brian Mitchell, Immigration Legal Adviser, Notre Dame Refugee Centre
Caitlin Boswell, Policy and Advocacy Manager, JCWI
Caroline Coombs, CEO, Reunite Families UK
Carolyn Housman, CEO of Children and Families Across Borders, Children and Families Across Borders
Catharine Walston, Trustee, Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign
Claire Thomas, Deputy Director, Minority Rights Group
Clare Moseley, CEO, Care4Calais
Cllr Peymana Assad, Councillor for Roxeth, London Borough of Harrow
David Brown, Chair, Birmingham City of Sanctuary Committee
Debbie Royle, Deputy Director, Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum
Denise McDowell, Chief Executive, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU)
Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, Oxfam GB
Dr Edie Friedman, Executive Director, The Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE)
Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi MBE, Director, Afghanistan & Central Asian Association
Efi Stathopoulou, Programmes Manager, Refugee Legal Support
Eleanor Brown, CEO, CARAS
Elizabeth Palmer, CEO, St Vincent de Paul Society (England and Wales)
Elizabeth Winter, Executive Director, British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG)
Emily Crowley , Chief Executive, Student Action for Refugees
Emma Stevenson , Deputy CEO, Choose Love
Enver Solomon, CEO, Refugee Council
Esmatullah Khyber, PhD student
Fahim Zazai, Managing Director, Afghan Community and Welfare Centre
Fahima Zaheen, CEO, Afghan Association Paiwand
Fiona Vale, Service Manager, BEGIN (Basic Educational Guidance in Nottinghamshire)
Frank Kamau, Business Development Manager, Mojatu Foundation
Geoffrey Curl, Refugee Support Volunteer
Hashmatullah Mujaddedi, Member, Afghan Association Paiwand
Heshmat Assadi, Founder /Chief, Eagle Eyes NGO Association
Hezel Ndlovu, Family Reunion Caseworker, PAFRAS- Positive Action For Refugees And Asylum Seekers
Homira May Rezai, Chairwoman, Hazara Committee
James Bajgar
James Joseph, Azadi Charity Executive Assistant/ Hazara APPG Secretariat
Jenni Regan, CEO, IMIX
Jo Cobley, CEO, Young Roots
Joel Mordi
Jonathan Griffin, Chief Executive, Immigration Law Practitioners Association
Jonny Willis, CEO, Refugee Youth Service
Joseph Seaton, At Risk Teachers
Julie Bishop, Director, Law Centres Network
Juliette Bone, Client Participation Worker, Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum
Kat Lorenz, Director, Asylum Support Appeals Project
Katie Rogers
Laure-Helene Piron, UK Afghanistan Diplomacy and Development Alliance
Lavin, Student, Safe Passage
Leah Gayer, Co-director, Compass Collective
Lilian Geijsen, European Director, Ben & Jerry’s
Liz Windsor-Welsh, Chief Executive, Action Together
M Mujaddedi, Afghan Association Paiwand
Marcela Navarrete, Partner, Wilson Solicitors LLP
Mark Goldring, Director, Asylum Welcome
Mark Seymour, Refugee Project Manager, The Gap Wales
Mel Steel, Director, Voices in Exile
Melina Safari, Director
Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director, René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights
Mr Anthony Boateng, Vice-President of the Methodist Conference, Methodist Church of Britain
Nahid Farid
Naomi Jackson, Development Lead, Social Workers Without Borders
Nazek Ramadan, Executive Director, Migrant Voice
Nick Harborne, CEO, Refugee Support Group
Paul Hook, Director, Asylum Matters
Rafi Hottak, Translator, Azadi Charity
Reset Communities and Refugees
Rev Fiona Bennett, General Assembly Moderator, United Reformed Church
Revd Graham Thompson, President of the Methodist Conference, Methodist Church of Britain
Revd. Lynn Green, General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain
Rohullah Samoon, Volunteer, Afghan Association Paiwand
Roqia, Afghan Association Paiwand
Ros Holland, Chief Executive, Boaz Trust
Rose Njoroge, Casework Co-ordinator, Slough Refugee Support
Sabir Zazai, CEO, Scottish Refugee Council
Sahar Rahimi
Saheem, Interpreter
Samim
Sarah Fenby-Dixon, Afghanistan Consultant, Global Witness
Sarah Magill, Managing Director, Azadi Charity
Sian Summers-Rees, Chief Officer, City of Sanctuary UK
Sophie Reid, MSYP, SYP Chair, Scottish Youth Parliament
Steve Newman, Chair, FODI (Sunderland)
Steven Martin, Director, Channel Rescue
Syed Wafeeullah, Self employed, Afghan Association Paiwand
Tamana Safi
Tim Naor Hilton, CEO, Refugee Action
Tufail Hussain, UK Director, Islamic Relief
Tyler Fox, Director, Springboard Youth Academy
Vicki Felgate and Kayte Cable, Co-Founders, Big Leaf Foundation
Wasila
William Nicholas Gomes, Director, The William Gomes Podcast
Zahra Shaheer, Volunteer and fellowship with Refugee Council and LCC Refugee Journalism Project
Zee Azizi, Student, Georgia State University
Zehra Zaidi, Action for Afghanistan
