Greater Manchester leaders call for all local authorities to take responsibility for Afghan refugees

Refugees from Afghanistan wait to be processed after arriving on a evacuation flight at Heathrow Airport, London. Picture date: Thursday August 26, 2021. Dominic Lipinski/PA

Leaders in Greater Manchester have called for all local authorities to play a part in supporting refugees from Afghanistan.

In a joint statement, mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and council leaders said the immigration minister should ensure every authority in the country helped those already evacuated from the Taliban-controlled country and those seeking sanctuary in the future.

The statement said: "It is clear that the whole asylum system is in need of a complete overhaul to make it fairer to those arriving in the UK and to the communities in which they live.

"Firstly, every part of the country needs to take a share of the responsibility across all schemes, asylum and resettlement.

"It cannot be fair that some of the poorest areas of the country, including parts of Greater Manchester, accommodate far higher numbers of those seeking sanctuary, because of lower housing costs, than other parts of the UK.

"It is not fair to those fleeing persecution or the communities in which they are placed."

Conservative leader of Bolton Council Martyn Cox is one of the leaders who's signed the joint statement Credit: Bolton Council

The politicians, who include Conservative leader of Bolton Council Martyn Cox, said under the current asylum system councils who had been disproportionately affected over the past 20 years did not receive funding to provide necessary support for individuals or communities.

They called for placements to be supported with funding and a resettlement strategy.

The statement said: "We will continue to welcome asylum-seekers and refugees to Greater Manchester and we are already playing our part in supporting those coming from Afghanistan during the current crisis.

"But we do need the rest of the country to do their bit too, and we call on the Government to ensure fairness is at the heart of the system."

Earlier this week, Conservative leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council Abi Brown called for a national debate to address why about two-thirds of local authorities had not stepped up to help Afghan refugees.

The UK Government has pledged to take up to 20,000 Afghan refugees who were forced to flee their home or face threats of persecution from the Taliban.