The first flight carrying asylum-seeking Afghans will depart from Islamabad International Airport for the United Kingdom on Thursday.
200 Afghan refugees are reportedly going to fly out today.
The Independent has reported that around 3,000 Afghans, many of whom worked for the British army, are to be given UK residency after the Afghan Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021.
For the time being, the UK has accommodated them in Pakistan since 2022, whereas hundreds have been stuck and await their turn to get relocated.
The Independent wrote that in “A U-turn of government policy, ministers have pledged that all Afghans eligible for the UK’s resettlement schemes will no longer have to wait for accommodation to be confirmed before coming to Britain”.
This u-turn was taken after Pakistan gave an ultimatum to all undocumented foreign nationals to leave by November 1 after which they will be deported.
A British High Commission delegation met senior officials from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) on Tuesday.
According to the senior CAA official, around 2,000 Afghan refugees will be repatriated by mid-December through one or two weekly chartered flights from Islamabad to the UK.
