The British government announced, on Tuesday, that it is ready to host 20,000 Afghan refugees “in the long term”, within hours of discussing a special emergency of the crisis arising from the return of the Taliban to power.

“We are indebted to everyone who has worked for us to make Afghanistan a better place in the past 20 years. Many of them, especially women, desperately need our help,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. Ministry of Interior Affairs.

Johnson declared himself “proud that the UK has been able to create this pathway to help them and their families live in complete safety in the UK”.

The Prime Minister will present the new receiver on Wednesday before the House of Commons.

The ministry said the initiative expects 5,000 Afghans “threatened by the current crisis” to arrive in the first year, particularly women, girls and religious minorities.

Although the statement does not give an exact timeline, it is inspired by a program for Syrian refugees that allowed the installation of 20,000 people in seven years, from 2014 to 2021.

The new device for Afghanistan has been added to a program known as ARAP for Afghan staff working in the UK, such as interpreters.

The UK has deployed around 900 military personnel to Kabul to ensure the evacuation of its nationals and local staff.

About 520 British nationals, former Afghan employees and diplomats have left Afghanistan since last Saturday on military flights.

stick / jz / tjc