The Ministry of Defence has ended in-country assistance for Afghans moving out of Afghanistan under the Afghan Resettlement Programme, requiring eligible individuals to make their own way to a third country, as the government works to conclude the programme within this Parliament.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard told Parliament on 28 April that the decision followed evidence of increasing numbers of eligible Afghans successfully self-moving to third countries, taken after careful assessment of risks and value for money.
“Having seen increased evidence of successful self-moves and after assessing carefully again the risks to this cohort and other factors, including the value for money for the taxpayer, we have decided to end in-country assistance for movements out of Afghanistan,” he said. Once individuals reach a safe third country, Pollard said, “we maintain provision of our current support until 2028.”
The outstanding application pipeline has fallen from approximately 25,000 to fewer than 17,000 since all schemes were closed to new applicants in July 2025, with the MoD aiming to have made all decisions on the current caseload by spring next year. Pollard said the government estimates fewer than 9,000 eligible persons remain to be relocated, in part because “we are finding far fewer applicants meet the eligibility criteria than in the years after the scheme opened.”
Two significant structural changes were also set out. The MoD will enforce the existing immigration rules requirement for eligible individuals to attend a visa application centre appointment within 12 months, save for exceptional circumstances. A backstop of December 2028 will also be introduced for MoD support in third countries. Pollard was direct about what this means: “save for exceptional circumstances, December 2028 will therefore mark the end of relocations to the UK.”
On accommodation, the MoD has ceased running transitional sites on the defence estate, with the small number of Afghans remaining in transitional accommodation now supported by local authorities. Service family accommodation properties currently used as settled accommodation are to have their use ended by 2028, and two of six hotels procured to support transitional pressures will have closed by this May.
Pollard thanked local government partners for their role, saying he wanted “to thank our partners in local government and other supportive local organisations, who have, and continue to provide critical support to eligible Afghans in the resettlement process.” He said he remained confident in progress toward concluding central government delivery of the programme “well before the end of this Parliament.”
For interest, many were accommodated at MoD Garrats Hay, a vacant CSOC site which in a previous life was the Welbeck Defence 6th form College. Further back, Cold War types in the sneaky beaky Y services were in Beaumanor next door.
The sites now part of the MIS estate, I assume the new location of the DI Academy.
Hope they’ve checked the walls for bugs!
umm mixed views on this, right we helped those that helped us but the sheer numbers are over the top, as always good idea right thing to do, high jacked by the fakes, civil rights bent lawyers. Sadly some good people would have missed out and some lets say less than honest people will be paid for, Always hard to get it right.
Hope that draws a line under a totally sad conflict with no winners just sadness and grief, yet again we followed the USA. Who then jacked us out and left in a rush with out telling any one, but left behind all the kit for the Enemy, And they are our Allie?
The scheme probably went on too long at this point, if the Taliban haven’t got any body by now then they are highly unlikely to.
We need to get past our issues with the “Taliban”. The people in charge today are not the people we started fighting in 2001 no matter what they call themselves. They are the defacto Afghanistan government largely chosen by the people of Afghanistan. If the Afghans had wanted it differently they would have put up a fight instead of melting away.
Ultimately we need to reopen relations with the Taliban. We need to start sending people back to Afghanistan. If that means paying the Taliban then so be it but it’s highly likely that Afghan asylum seekers are a much bigger risk to the UK than the Taliban especially if people are allowed permanent settlement.
We can and should put a distinction for people who actually fought in uniform on our side but that’s a fraction of the thousands of would be “translators” and NGO workers claiming asylum.