City's 'moral duty' to accept more Afghan refugees

Birmingham City Council has agreed to accept 124 new Afghan refugees into the city - a move its leader called a "moral duty".

The Labour run local authority said it was willing to accommodate the refugees during 2025/26, as part of the government's Afghan Relocation Programme (ARP) to rehouse Afghan citizens who have worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan.

Councillor Robert Alden, the council's Conservative leader, said the opposition party should focus on housing the people already in need within the city.

But at a meeting on Tuesday, councillor John Cotton said participation in the scheme was not about feeling "warm and fuzzy" but "playing our role as a global city".

According to a council report, eligible individuals of the ARP scheme face particular hardship as they either furthered British interest in Afghanistan in their professional roles or have a documented record of standing up for European values.

Alden argued that welcoming more refugees could place a "strain" on the city's housing situation.

He said: "The city has changed since 2021 [the year the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan] – the council is now bankrupt.

"There are tens of thousands of people on the council's waiting list for housing, there are thousands of families in temporary accommodation, people who are already here who cannot get housed properly."

"This report doesn't really reflect the fact that actually that will be placing a further strain on those issues in the city."

The Birmingham Conservative Group later posted on X, that the council "should focus on housing Birmingham residents".

The council said in the report that it had successfully supported the successful integration of 148 Afghan families in the past with "little impact" on public services or finances.

It also said relatively low rates of hate crimes had been reported by resettled families in the city.

Cotton defended the council's plans during the meeting.

"I think it's very clear we have a moral duty to participate," he said. "It isn't about feeling warm and fuzzy.

"We welcomed people to this city for many generations," he added.

The council's cabinet approved the continued use of private sector housing and Local Authority Housing Fund properties to meet the housing needs of families arriving under the ARP.

It said this would help manage the risks associated with additional pressures on housing and homelessness services.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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