Guernsey in talks with UK over Afghanistan response

Thursday 19 August 2021

Officials are considering "what role, no matter how small" Guernsey can play in resettling vulnerable refugees in light of the humanitarian crisis engulfing Afghanistan.

The Taliban has taken back control of Afghanistan after large numbers of Western troops were withdrawn from the country. It comes two decades after a US-led invasion removed the extremist group from power after its reign of terror in the late nineties.

The pull-out of troops saw the Taliban swarm through city after city in 10 fateful days which culminated in the group seizing Kabul, leading to scenes of chaos and ever-growing fears of a humanitarian crisis under the Taliban regime. 

In 2016, Deputy Le Tocq said Guernsey wouldn’t take any Syrian refugees as the island was too Islamophobic to ensure their security.

5 years on, @Govgg must step up and offer to assist in one of the world’s most pressing humanitarian crises. We failed in 2016. We can’t again. https://t.co/1YrWQ0v6bq

— Alex Garner (@AlexGEGarner) August 18, 2021

The UK Government - which has been criticised widely for its "shameful" response to the Taliban threat - has announced that 5,000 Afghan nationals will be resettled in the UK in the next 12 months. 

A press statement read that priority will be given to women and girls who are most at risk of abuse and dehumanising treatment by the Taliban.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said these plans - which could see 20,000 people given refuge over five years - are “modelled on the successful Syrian vulnerable persons resettlement scheme” which resettled 20,000 Syrian refugees between 2014 to 2021.

Engagement with UK government already under way

— Jonathan Le Tocq ???????? (@letocq) August 18, 2021

Guernsey's former Chief Minister Jonathan Le Tocq - now the island's External Affairs Lead - infamously said Guernsey could not take in refugees back in 2016 because of "Islamophobia and negativity" in the local community.

In a statement yesterday, he vowed that Guernsey must play its part in international efforts to help those most under threat, saying that "engagement with UK government is already under way" over the role Guernsey can play. 

Deputy Le Tocq has since confirmed he has received numerous offers of housing from Guernsey residents for refugees, especially Afghan children.

"I am deeply saddened to see the fall of city after city and now Kabul this week, as I’m sure are many in our Bailiwick who have close ties with Afghanistan," said Deputy Le Tocq. 

We MUST put a face on Afghan children. I played football, laughed and cuddled the children who are in the photograph. Most will be 18-20 years old now. The same age as my children…. pic.twitter.com/2woXk0LQ0g

— Lt Col (Retd) Colin Vaudin (@colinvaudin) August 18, 2021

"Putting aside the debate on the foreign policy decisions behind this going on in the West, it is heart-breaking to think about the future for those people of Afghanistan who wished to embrace the freedoms and rights that we value and promote in the Commonwealth. 

"We should look to follow the coordinated efforts in the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis engulfing Afghanistan to see what role, no matter how small, we as a community can play in that."