26 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
More than 100 Nepalis and another group of Indians who “risked their lives” to protect and evacuate members of the British embassy in Afghanistan just before the Taliban took power were returned to their countries against their will, the report has revealed. newspaper ‘The Guardian’.
Just a few days after these people arrived in the UK on evacuation flights, in August 2021, and despite having six-month visas, they were deported from the country.
When they were deported, they were still quarantining in their respective hotels due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Nepal was listed as a country that the British government recommended not to travel to.
Some have managed to return to the country as asylum seekers whose lives could be in danger in their countries of origin.
In March, at least ten Nepalese guards who participated in the evacuation from Kabul and who had managed to stay in the UK were rounded up in a raid. Two of them obtained permission to remain on British soil, although they are still in custody.
Some of the evacuated Nepali guards have been granted indefinite leave on British soil, including two of those arrested in March who remain in immigration detention.
When the arrests came to light, the UK Home Office announced a halt to deportations, explaining that the evacuees were flown from Kabul as “a gesture of goodwill” and were expected to return to their home countries. origin.
One of the deported guards has revealed that they were deceived by the country’s border security and that they were expelled “by force” and against their will, without offering humanitarian protection.
“In Afghanistan we were always in danger. We didn’t know if we were going to survive. When I arrived in the UK I felt safe but I was deported to Nepal on August 17,” said Deepal Pungamar, one of the guards.
“These brave men were evacuated from Afghanistan and subsequently prepared and processed their applications for permanent leave in the UK. They were never spoken of as a goodwill gesture and there was no understanding that they could be deported, let alone detained after a morning raid on his hotel”, detailed the lawyers for the detainees, Jamie Bell.
The British Home Office has defended itself by claiming that they have already “received” and “protected” some 24,500 people fleeing Afghanistan.
