LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to update lawmakers during an emergency session Wednesday about the evacuation of British nationals and allies from Afghanistan and the steps the government is taking to help Afghan citizens facing the return of the Taliban.
Johnson, who spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday about the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, is set to flesh out details of a new settlement program that would allow up to 20,000 vulnerable Afghan refugees to seek sanctuary in the U.K. in the coming years.
The prime minister is also expected to tell lawmakers, who were summoned back to parliament for the emergency session, that there must be an immediate increase in aid to avert a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s seizure of power.
Development charities noted, however, that any increase in aid to the country — Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says it will be around 10% — would come after the government slashed the U.K.’s aid spending by 75%.
Demonstrations are planned outside of parliament to call for support for Afghans and their families.
Like Biden, Johnson has faced widespread criticism over the sudden turn of events in Afghanistan, which has seen the Taliban return to power two decades after they were driven out following the 9/11 attacks. Criticism has been particularly acute from veterans and the families of the 457 British troops who died in the country while fighting there as part of an international military operation.
Under the British government’s Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme, up to 5,000 refugees would be admitted to the U.K. this year, and a total of 20,000 would be offered a way to settle in the U.K. in the coming years.
The program will focus on women, children, and others who have been forced to flee their homes or face threats of persecution from the Taliban, the government has said.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have worked with us to make Afghanistan a better place over the last 20 years,” Johnson said.
Opposition parties and some members of Johnson’s Conservative Party say the plan has not gone far enough to make a real difference, with some urging an increase in the number of refugees allowed in to over 50,000.
The government said the new program would be in addition to 5,000 Afghans already expected to move to the U.K. under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which is designed to offer local allies such as interpreters priority relocation to the U.K. Government figures showed 2,000 have already arrived under the ARAP program.
Officials said 520 British nationals, diplomats and former Afghan staff had left Afghanistan since Saturday on U.K. military flights from Kabul. The latest flight carrying evacuated British nationals and Afghans landed late Tuesday at RAF Brize Norton, located around 75 miles northwest of London.