I met with the Defence Minister a couple of weeks ago to discuss the relocation of Afghan soldiers and interpreters from the British Army, to whom we have offered a home so they can escape the Taleban in their own country. Note these are not asylum seekers, nor illegal immigrants (as a Reform UK leaflet falsely states). But there are a lot of them here: Wiltshire takes a large proportion of the Afghans because we have military accommodation which serves as transitional housing until they can be permanently settled in their own homes.
The process has not been easy and I firmly believe that existing communities have a right to complain about the pressure and impact on local schools, on housing, and on the atmosphere and culture of our area.
I was pleased to hear there will be a rationalisation of the multiple schemes currently in place to bring these men and their families to the UK. But most of all I was pleased to hear the Minister confirm that local authorities will not be expected to arrange permanent accommodation for them, and that they are not expected to stay in the area where they are temporarily housed. Indeed we know that most of the Afghans, very understandably, wish to live in cities, not in rural Wiltshire.
The Minister promised that the use of the defence estate for temporary accommodation for Afghan families will reduce this year; and I will hold him to this promise.
