York will step up and take some Afghan refugees, a leading councillor has said.
Councillor Darryl Smalley, executive member for culture, leisure & communities at City of York Council, said it was “now or never to save innocent people from the terror of the Taliban”. He said:
York has a proud history of providing sanctuary to those in need. We will show that same leadership and compassion now.
We are already working with Migration Yorkshire and partners to secure accommodation for a small number of Afghan refugee families who have previously supported the British Armed Forces whilst in Afghanistan.
As a City of Sanctuary, we are coordinating efforts to ensure they are welcomed into safe accommodation as quickly as possible.
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He also urged the UK government to “make an immediate commitment to resettle at least 20,000 Afghan refugees. The priority should be to bring those most at risk to safety through an emergency Women and Girls Resettlement Scheme.
“This commitment must be backed up with proper funding for local authorities to house and support refugees without placing more strain on already overstretched budgets.
“This must be genuinely new funding, not further deplete our overseas aid spending that the Conservatives have already cut so devastatingly.”
The UK has announced it will take up to 20,000 people looking to exit Afghanistan as part of its resettlement scheme, with 5,000 due to be accepted in the next 12 months.
Downing Street said the Government would be encouraging international partners to emulate “one of the most generous asylum schemes in British history”, but Labour said the offer was not bold enough.