Almost 300 Afghan refugees still in Yorkshire hotels nearly a year after airlift as minister admits his frustration

The minister responsible for resettling refugees fleeing terror and war has admitted he is disappointed by the number of Afghan people still living in hotels.

Around 285 displaced people, including children, who have fled the Taliban are still living in two hotels in North Yorkshire, the Yorkshire Post understands.

The ‘bridging hotels’ were set up to provide temporary accommodation for refugees after airlifts began from Afghanistan last August, but some refugees are now faced with the prospect of a second autumn and winter without a permanent resettlement.

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Lord Richard Harrington, himself the grandson of refugees, said the size of the families living in temporary accommodation was causing difficulties sourcing permanent housing.

The ‘bridging hotels’ were set up to provide temporary accommodation for refugees after airlifts began from Afghanistan last August, but some refugees are now faced with the prospect of a second autumn and winter without a permanent resettlement.
Pictured: The Duke of Cambridge meeting refugees last yearThe ‘bridging hotels’ were set up to provide temporary accommodation for refugees after airlifts began from Afghanistan last August, but some refugees are now faced with the prospect of a second autumn and winter without a permanent resettlement.
Pictured: The Duke of Cambridge meeting refugees last year
The ‘bridging hotels’ were set up to provide temporary accommodation for refugees after airlifts began from Afghanistan last August, but some refugees are now faced with the prospect of a second autumn and winter without a permanent resettlement. Pictured: The Duke of Cambridge meeting refugees last year

Speaking on a visit to York where he met with Syrian and Ukrainian refugees, Lord Harrington said: “Many of the Afghans came in a hurry, are still living in hotels, and the resettlement of them is my job to do.

“They came in an emergency and were put in temporary accommodation which many of them are still in.

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“I make no excuse for that. It was a big job - they had to get aircraft in.

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“But it’s been much slower than we thought. I can give a lot of reasons. A lot of them come from very large families, and we do not have accommodation for seven, eight, nine children.

“I’m not happy with the number of Afghans still in hotels - we want to get them all out, it’s not ideal.”

The Leeds-born Lord Harrington said the number of larger families from Afghanistan was the main reason private housing placements were difficult to source for refugees, compared with Ukrainian families, some of whom have been given private housing after their sponsorship placements failed.

He said it was also a struggle asking families living in hotels, some of whom have found work and established community links, to move to other parts of the country.

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Lord Harrington has now written to local authorities to ask them to commit to permanently resettling more Afghan refugees in 2022 and 2023.

In a letter to the chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council seen by the Yorkshire Post, he wrote: “I am determined to move both existing and new arrivals out of bridging accommodation as quickly as possible to help people integrate most successfully into their new lives in the UK.

“As such, I am asking all councils to again help through bringing forward the most generous number of pledges possible for placements for the year ahead.

“I am acutely aware that this ask comes at a time when we are asking a lot of you in our support for Ukraine and at a time when the private rented sector is particularly challenging. I understand the pressures that this puts on you; the collective challenge for us is significant.”

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Over 500 four bedroom houses are needed nationwide to move large families, with over 12,000 Afghan refugees living in bridging accommodation as of June.

And over 500 refugees a month are still arriving in the UK under the Afghan Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

North Yorkshire has resettled 122 Afghan people permanently since the airlifts began, but according to council papers there are no plans to offer resettlement to further Afghan families in the county under Lord Harrington’s schemes “due to other pressures and existing refugee resettlement commitments.” Other refugee schemes the council takes part in include the UK Resettlement Scheme which supports refugees from war-torn areas in any part of the world.

Neil Irving, assistant director policy partnerships and communities, said: “North Yorkshire has taken more than its fair share of families resettled under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.

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“Nationally, the total is thought to be 9,000, and the county’s appropriate allocation is one per cent of that total as North Yorkshire has one per cent of the UK population.

“The county is also supporting over 680 people on the Homes for Ukraine scheme, who have arrived to date.

“In North Yorkshire, the housing supply is limited and pressures on it grows.

“Both the county council and district councils are committed to fulfilling their existing commitments under the UK Resettlement Programme and other programmes. It will be for the new North Yorkshire Council to consider how it will respond to future needs to support refugees.”