Hundreds of Afghans evacuated from Pakistan ‘dumped’ in military bases as UK scrambles to find them homes

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. General Sir John McColl, a former deputy supreme allied commander in Europe, praised the MoD for bringing people to Britain but warned that the government had questions to answer on the help being given to these families, while shadow armed forces minister Luke Pollard said Afghans would face “even more uncertainty”. Labour’s shadow armed forces minister Luke Pollard said: “The government failed to deal with the ballooning backlog of Arap applications, left Afghans in limbo in hotels, and repeatedly put them at risk from the Taliban. “Ministers must fix their failing Afghan schemes.” Steve Smith, the CEO of refugee charity Care4Calais and a former army colonel, said the government had “let down Afghans who served alongside UK forces in Afghanistan”. These Afghan veterans and their families should be living in communities, starting their new life here in the UK with hope, not held in military barracks.” General Sir Richard Dannatt, a former head of the army, said the MoD was working hard to find homes, adding: “A combination of putting them in MoD accommodation and local authority accommodation around the country is the right thing to do – not leaving them in hotels to languish for many months.” A government spokesperson said: “The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.