Even as Afghans are Resettled, Refugee Protection is Under Attack

London: In 1956, after Soviet tanks had rolled into Budapest, the United Kingdom resettled around 11,000 Hungarian refugees in a matter of months. In 1972, after Idi Amin gave them 90 days to leave, the United Kingdom resettled nearly 30,000 Ugandan Asian refugees. Between 1979 and 1983, the United Kingdom resettled around 16,000 Vietnamese refugees. Between 2015 and 2020, the United Kingdom resettled 20,000 Syrian refugees. All of these major resettlement schemes were undertaken by Conservative governments and all were part of major international refugee resettlement programmes.

There are already as many as 20.7 million refugees around the world, and that is before any possible exodus from Afghanistan. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 1.47 million of those refugees require resettlement this year. Last year, fewer than 35,000 refugees were resettled, a fraction of a percent. The High Court recently commented that such figures “show the stark contrast between humanitarian need, and the availability of resettlement as a solution”.

Around 10% of refugees live in camps and some have spent years or even decades doing so. Turkey hosts 3.7 million refugees, Colombia 1.7 million, Pakistan 1.4 million and Germany 1.2 million.

The United Kingdom hosts 132,000 refugees.

Read more: Freemovement, https://is.gd/RQvZrZ