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Operation Warm Welcome cools: over 9,000 Afghans still in temporary accommodation
[FreeMovement] The fall of Kabul in August 2021 prompted an emergency evacuation of around 15,000 people eligible for repatriation or relocation in the UK. Within weeks, amid intense criticism of the UK government’s mishandling of the situation and leadership failures surrounding the Afghanistan evacuation, Operation Warm Welcome was launched, to ensure support for Afghan arrivals to rebuild their lives in the UK. More than a year after the fall of Kabul, over 9,000 Afghans remain in temporary bridging accommodation.Bridging accommodation is a key function in the government’s Warm Welcome strategy. It refers to the use of temporary hotels and serviced accommodation procured by the Home Office to house those arriving in the UK. Nearly all Afghans arriving in the UK have been or continue to be placed in temporary bridging accommodation before more permanent accommodation has been found. Within weeks of temporary bridging hotels beginning to be used, a 5-year-old Afghan boy died falling from a window of a hotel in Sheffield. Following his death, it emerged that the Home Office did not carry out any safety checks on the hotel, which was the subject of a fire enforcement action at the time the Home Office placed families there. Posted by: trailing wife 2023-01-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=655860 |