LONDON: The UK government will charter flights for Afghan refugees stranded in Pakistan who have been promised British visas, starting from Thursday onwards, a media report said.
The development comes after Pakistan announced earlier this month that it will start deporting illegal migrants from November 1, the BBC reported According to charities, thousands of people who worked with or for the UK government in Afghanistan and fled the Taliban are currently in Pakistan, waiting to be relocated.
The visas of many of these refugees have expired. Some of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan were former translators for the British army and teachers for the British Council.
Recent government figures show that around 3,250 men women and children on the UK’s relocation schemes are living in guest houses and hotels in Islamabad, the BBC reported.
The refugees have no legal access to work and their children are also not allowed to go to school.
A Ministry of Defence official said that the UK had brought around 24,600 people from Afghanistan to safety. But he did not comment on the charter flights.
