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'He fought alongside us, are you going to fire him?' Deputy Prime Minister questioned several times by his host about an independent story Justice Secretary Dominic Raab had trouble coming up with answers today when he was repeatedly challenged by the BBC over the controversy over an Afghan war veteran facing deportation to Rwanda. In tense exchanges with the BBC's Justin Webb on Radio 4 Today, the deputy prime minister was told the pilot was "desperate".
When Raab claimed there were "safe and legal" ways for Afghans to seek asylum in the UK, Webb responded by saying the Taliban would have "murdered" the pilot if he had told them he had asked permission to leave.
After being pressed four times on whether the pilot would be 'deported', Raab said the government was determined to crack down on 'criminal gangs that fuel the illegal asylum trade'.
The deputy prime minister said: 'I don't want to comment on individual cases...', before the BBC presenter insisted: 'He would be happy if you comment as he is desperate.'
Raab said: "The rules for asylum seekers include vulnerable people from Afghanistan, we want to make sure there are safe and reliable routes."
But Webb said: "Sorry to interrupt. This guy didn't follow those rules; he said they were impossible because he would have to get permission from the government to get out of Afghanistan and he couldn't go public because he would be killed by them.
“If someone was a pilot in the Afghan Air Force and worked with us and came here illegally, do they STILL have to follow these rules and potentially be deported?”
Mr Raab said: 'That's why we've created safe and legal routes...', before the Today presenter pressed him again: 'But if they didn't follow them, should they be deported?'
Mr. Raab: “That's not quite right. Of course, getting out of Afghanistan is difficult, but there is a safe and legal route. We are organizing flights before the evacuation of Kabul, others can do it through neighboring countries. But what is also clear is that we cannot continue to create perverse incentives to come here under the most dangerous conditions that have lined the pockets of the criminal gangs that fuel this trade.
Afghan pilot faces deportation to Rwanda
The chairman of the defense select committee has called on Britain to do its "duty" to Afghans who have served alongside coalition forces. "It's clearly not about who we are as a nation," Ellwood added.
Admiral Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy, joined the criticism, saying the government had a "duty" to look after those who fought alongside Britain.
Raab was foreign secretary when the Taliban seized power in August 2021. A committee of MPs said the UK evacuation mission in Kabul was a "disaster" that could have been avoided if Raab had expressed interest.
The then foreign secretary was on vacation at the start of the crisis and then tried to pin the blame on him, the Foreign Affairs Committee concluded in a damning report.
Afghans top plan in 2021 evacuation
Afghans now account for the largest number of small boat migrants, with more than 9,000 crossing the Channel in 2022.
The Afghan Assistance and Relocation Policy (ARAP) programme, designed to attract those who helped British forces, brought more than 11,000 people to safety after the fall of Kabul.
But another 4,300 eligible people, including family members, are still waiting to be relocated. And the overall plan for Afghans at risk, the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), has brought just 22 people to the UK since the evacuation.
The Afghan pilot, who flew dozens of combat missions against the Taliban and was hailed by his coalition forces supervisor as a "patriot of his nation", claims he was "forgotten" by US and British forces.
In an email to the pilot, the Home Office said evidence that he had been in Italy, Switzerland and France before arriving in the UK could have "consequences for the admission of his claim into the UK asylum system". , adding: "[The pilot] may also be removable to Rwanda.
The veteran said it had been 'impossible' to get to Britain by a safe route, adding: 'What safe and legal path was there after the fall of Afghanistan?
Rishi Sunak was asked about the pilot's case when he appeared before the Liaison Committee on Tuesday afternoon and said the veterans who have helped British forces "are exactly the kind of people we want to help."
The prime minister told senior Conservative MP Caroline Nokes that he could not comment on individual cases, but if details were sent to him: "I'll be happy to make sure the Home Office takes a look."
Ms Cooper added: 'The failures of this Conservative government to help those who have helped us are a source of national shame.
So it appears that migrants arriving by small boats could be accommodated on ferries and barges, as well as disused military bases as part of government plans to cut hotel spending.
The Home Office is reportedly considering housing asylum seekers on giant barges used for offshore construction projects. Raab described the barges as "a possible option" and told Sky News that the use of hotels acted as a "perverse incentive" to encourage crossings.
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