Councils across the UK have been asked to take in refugees from the stricken state as part of the Government’s Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme.
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) was due to announce that they had found a home for an Afghan translator and their family under the previous Afghan Locally Employed Staff Relocation scheme.
However, following the worsening situation in the country, the authority decided to offer assistance to more people.
Councillor Andy Fairweather, Cabinet member for Communities and Wellbeing at TWBC, said: “I think residents who are aware of what’s been happening in Afghanistan will agree we have an obligation to help these people, many of whom have risked their lives to help our troops.
“I am very pleased we’re going to be able to help more than one family this year. It is the right thing to do.”
The Council has previously helped Afghan interpreters settle in the area and has housed and supported ten Syrian families following the earlier conflict in that country.
The new Afghan families will be living in private rented accommodation, but the Council said they would like to hear from landlords who have family-sized homes that could support the resettlement initiative so they can rehouse more.
The idea of helping others comes amid calls to reach out to more families fleeing the Taliban terror.
“Five families within one year falls short of what we must offer”
One such voice is that of former intelligence officer Mike Tapp, who lives in Tunbridge Wells and served two operational tours in Afghanistan.
In an open letter to this week’s Times, he says: “Five homes within one year falls short of what we surely must be able to offer. We should be leading on this one and setting an example.
“If we offer ten homes and other councils follow suit it will lead to the faster resettlement of 20,000 refugees in the UK.”
Mike Tapp has previously stood as a Labour candidate in a borough council election.
Lib Dem councillor Peter Lidstone (St John’s Ward) was among those who reacted last week after seeing the story about helping refugees break online via this newspaper.
“I was glad to see the Times online coverage,” he said, as he recalled in this week’s Letters page the time he knocked on the door of a Syrian refugee family living in the town a few years ago.
“Their warm welcome on the doorstep and their joy at their children attending a nearby school will stay with me for a long time.”
Landlords willing to help rehome Afghan refugees will be paid local housing allowance rates as part of the scheme.
Across the UK, councils have pledged to rehome refugees from Afghanistan after the Government announced the UK will take up to 20,000 people fleeing the Taliban.
Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council has pledged to take in refugees from the troubled country, but has not yet said how many it can accommodate.
Kim Tanner, Tonbridge Council’s Cabinet member for housing, said the authority previously supported 12 Syrian refugee families and were now appealing for landlords to get in touch.
Wealden District Council has yet to make any pledge to take in refugees, although MP Nus Ghani has said she has spoken to the authority and ‘received a positive assurance’ from the council that they will.
Any landlords in Tunbridge Wells able to offer accommodation are asked to get in touch with the housing team on 01892 526 121, while Tonbridge landlords should email: housing.services@tmbc.gov.uk
