‘I feel lonely all the time’ – Government unveils family reunion scheme for separated Afghans
Mozdah hasn't seen her parents or siblings for three years - and said it is difficult to stay hopeful, as Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker reports
A long awaited reunion route has opened for Afghan families separated during the evacuation of Kabul, nearly three years since the Taliban takeover.
In the chaos of the withdrawal of Western Forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, thousands of people were separated and family members left behind.
Now those who were able to escape to the UK can apply for their partners and family to join them.
“There remains an urgent need to ensure that those who assisted our efforts in Afghanistan, often at huge personal risk to themselves and their families, can be reunited,” Immigration and Citizenship Minister Seema Malhotra said.
Refugee charities have said today’s announcement is "hugely welcome", describing it as "life changing" - but also cautioned that not every family will meet the new criteria.
ITV News has been following the stories of Afghan families who have been resettled in the UK.
Muhammed's story
Muhammed said being separated from his wife leaves him feeling he should "give up on life".
When the evacuation from Kabul started, Muhammad’s daughter was just a few months old and his son was aged 18 months.
The family decided the risk at the airport was too great, and while he was airlifted to the UK, his wife and children fled across the border to Pakistan.
As the years have passed, hopes of a speedy reunion in the UK have faded. Muhammed told ITV News that the family has now gone into in hiding in Pakistan with the threat of deportation back to Taliban ruled Afghanistan hanging over them.
During his daily video calls, Muhammed’s wife told us of the mental toll this prolonged separation is having on her.
“Alone with two children, it’s very hard for me to be in a strange country without my husband. They (the British government) should please help us,” she pleaded.
As a civil engineer, Muhammed worked alongside British forces but now feels betrayed.
He’s been moved between several different Home Office run hotels in the south of England for nearly three years, a situation that has left him feeling suicidal.
“Sometimes I feel that I should give up my life, go for suicide, it’s been nearly three years. I feel like what’s the point of living. I feel like why did I come here,” he said.
Today’s announcement has brought fresh hope that they may soon be reunited.
Gunes Kalkan, Head of Campaigns at Safe Passage International said: “This will be life changing for the parents and children who have been separated all this time, living in dangerous situations often in hiding from the Taliban.
"This safe route will mean Afghans who are eligible can start to rebuild their lives in safety, together as families.”
Mozdah's story
“All I ask for is a regular life with my parents, with my family.”
Mozdah was 19 when she was airlifted to safety, part of a group of female Afghan footballers who had fled for their lives and escaped the Taliban via Pakistan.
It’s three years since she last saw her parents and siblings who remain trapped in Afghanistan. Mozdah has tried to build a new life in South Yorkshire but told me of the heartache she feels so deeply every day.
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“That’s what makes me very, very sad, I feel lonely all the time. When I see someone with younger siblings, I feel like oh that could be me with my siblings. I can’t even imagine when I will be able to see them again.
“I wanted to scream, I want to cry,” Mozdah said.
As Mozdah was 19 when she arrived in the UK, she is ineligible to apply to bring her parents and siblings to the UK.
The criteria states that the expanded reunification scheme relates to children under 18 who were evacuated without adults, although the Home Office has said "exceptional circumstances may be considered".
Sevin's story
Sevin is still separated from her wider family after fleeing Afghanistan three years ago.
Under the Taliban, women’s rights have been crushed. Sevin was among 130 young female footballers and their families who escaped.
It took four months, but an international rescue effort involving Leeds United and some funding from reality TV star Kim Kardashian eventually brought them to the UK.
As a woman in Afghanistan, playing football put their lives at risk, but it was also their means of escape.
When Sevin talks about the game her whole face lights up. "It is my life, my love," she tells me.
The 23-year-old travelled to the UK with her mother and younger siblings but still feels the pain of being separated from her wider family.
"Every night when I want to sleep I am just think of my dad and sisters and all the girls in Afghanistan. They don’t have freedom, they can’t do anything”, she said.
The family has tried to start a new life in Doncaster where Sevin has enrolled in a sports science course and her mother Faqia, 45, runs a fish and chip shop in the town.
But three years of separation from her husband has taken its toll.
“We’ve been through so much already. Please don’t let people like me suffer anymore from this separation," Faqia told ITV News.
"Please do something to help us. It is not good to lose your hope, but I feel there is no hope."
She will be applying to bring her husband to the UK through the extended scheme, but her adult children are ineligible for resettlement under the criteria outlined by the Home Office.
What do the statistics show?
The latest official figures showed that almost as many Afghan nationals arrived in the UK having made the Channel crossing as through the Government’s legal routes last year.
Afghans are the top nationality arriving by small boats, making up almost a fifth of all Channel arrivals.
Nearly 6000 made the dangerous crossing in the year ending March 2024.
Data also showed that some 758 lone Afghan children were recorded as applying for asylum having crossed the Channel – a figure described by the Refugee Council as showing they were being let down by a lack of options for family reunion.
Enver Solomon from the Refugee Council said the Afghan refugees having to undertake dangerous journeys to reach the UK is a "tragedy"
What is the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) separated families route?
The ACRS opened on Tuesday July 30th, and the Government said the window to submit an expression of interest will remain open for three months, until October 30.
The scheme formally opened in January 2022, with the then government pledging to resettle up to 20,000 people “over the coming years".
The new separated families route in an expansion of the original ACRS scheme.
Those covered by the original scheme included people who have assisted the UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for values such as democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech, and rule of law.
Vulnerable people, including women and girls at risk, and members of minority groups at risk (including ethnic and religious minorities and LGBT+) also came under the original evacuation scheme.
Criteria for those who can apply includes:
People who were able to escape to the UK under legal routes can now apply for their partners and children to join them.
Children who were evacuated without their parents can apply for them and any siblings who were under the age of 18 at the time of the evacuation.
Under the expansion of the scheme, family members will need to attend a Visa Application Centre to submit their biometrics and travel documents.
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