Afghan man living in UK fears for family's deportation

An Afghan man resettled in the UK fears his family are in danger of being deported back to the Taliban-run country because of Home Office delays.

Muhammad was given indefinite leave to remain in the UK after arriving in 2021, while his family escaped to safety in neighbouring Pakistan.

He said his family helped British forces and were told they could join him, but now face imminent deportation.

The government said it was trying to bring more eligible Afghans to the UK.

Muhammad was able to move to Oxfordshire under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme after he and his family assisted UK forces to source accommodation - something he believes would make them "enemies" of the current regime.

They fled when the Taliban captured Kabul and regained control of the country, amid chaotic scenes that saw people crushed to death at the city's airport as they fought to escape.

Muhammad, who has young children, had been hopeful he would soon be reunited with his family after the government said in February it expected to make referrals in the first half of this year.

But with no further details being released so far, Muhammad said he had experienced "mental stress and anxiety".

He told the BBC that it felt like "everything that I'm trying to do is not working", with the situation now becoming more urgent after Pakistan announced it was stepping up its deportation of Afghan citizens back to Afghanistan.

"But I have my kids - I have to be alive for them," he said.

He described calling them every morning to check whether they were safe but that they no longer recognised him.

"Two years is a huge [amount of] time and the Home Office ... are not acting on their words," he said.

Muhammad still lives in temporary accommodation but has been told by his local council that he would be able to move into a house soon.

Oxford charity Asylum Welcome has been working with Muhammad and other Afghan citizens in a similar position.

Communications coordinator Emma Jones said that the Home Office had failed to "make good on their promise to Afghans who help British forces".

"There's no way of these families registering their status, their eligibility for living in the UK with the Pakistani authorities," she said.

"So in practice, the assurances that we've been given are worth nothing."

A Home Office spokesperson said the government was "committed to establishing a route to allow eligible individuals to refer one spouse or partner and dependent children to join them in the UK"."The government continues to work with partners in the region to evacuate eligible people and are committed to bringing more Afghans to the UK in the long term," the statement added.

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2240.