CONSERVATIVE
New Forest East

FOREIGN AFFAIRS – REVEALING NAMES OF VULNERABLE AFGHANS TO THE TALIBAN - 06 September 2021

FOREIGN AFFAIRS – REVEALING NAMES OF VULNERABLE AFGHANS TO THE TALIBAN - 06 September 2021

Dr Julian Lewis: How careful are the Government going to be about not revealing very large numbers of names of people with a claim to come here to the Taliban until we know they will assist them in coming here rather than lock them up?

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab): My right hon. Friend makes an excellent point. We are going to have to test this; this is one of the early tests. The evidence from the period of the evacuation suggests, given the numbers we referred to – over 17,000 people, with a huge number of Afghan nationals, and the 500 cases of particularly vulnerable Afghans such as journalists, judges, Chevening scholars and women’s rights activists – that the Taliban are able to give an assurance and then keep to it. The question is whether we can build that into a steadier understanding to deal with the outstanding cases.]