People fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan for safety in Britain are taking 24 to 48 hours to make it safely across Kabul for evacuation – and many have turned back home, scared to travel, defence sources have acknowledged.
Difficulties in getting the remaining Britons, Afghans and others to the airport became the most significant hurdle on the fifth day of the RAF airlift amid renewed speculation over whether it will last to the end of the month as planned.
The struggles have made it hard to fill up RAF flights, which are typically running at 75% to 80% capacity, sometimes with third country nationals on board to make better use of space.
But defence sources said no RAF plane had left Kabul airport nearly empty after a Briton still in Afghanistan – Pen Farthing, a former Royal Marine – tweeted a picture of a nearly empty plane repatriating his wife. It is believed to have been a Norwegian military flight.
An informal agreement with the Taliban, who now control the Afghan capital, is supposed to let evacuees pass roadblocks on their way to the airport and a nearby processing centre – but this is not always happening as the mass rescue unfolds.
James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said he believed the Taliban were being largely cooperative and not turning away people from the airport. “Where they have done, I’ve heard it’s more that they are being officious rather than malicious.”
The standing advice is that those with a ticket to ride should present themselves at checkpoints with their documents and say they want to go to the airport. Some fear that could put them at risk and return home – although British sources said nobody who had been eligible for travel had been killed.
Rescue helicopters have been seen over Kabul, which could bring people over to the main airfield, but the UK does not have such a capability in Afghanistan. Germany said it was planning to send in two helicopters to help rescue its citizens on Saturday.
Those who are eligible for evacuation – including Afghan interpreters and others who helped the British – are being told to remain at home until they are sent an email telling them to go to the Baron hotel, where UK officials are based, to be processed.
Preet Kaur Gill, Labour’s shadow secretary for international development, said: “We are seeing planes leaving which are not full despite the clear and pressing humanitarian need.” She called on the Foreign Office to help ensure such a situation is not repeated.
RAF flights were also halted for a few hours overnight after US and UK forces helped introduce greater security measures at the gates of the airport. Large crowds of desperate Afghans outside in the street were making it difficult on Thursday for evacuees to travel the short distance from the Baron hotel to the airport.
The change has helped the flow of passengers and over the last 24 hours 963 people were airlifted out, taking the total to 2,400 including 599 Britons. Most of the rest are Afghans eligible to come to the UK under the Arap relocation scheme, although dependents of people who are already in the UK are also being flown out.
The UK had hoped to airlift 1,000 people a day and this is the first time the target – set at the beginning of the week – has been close to being achieved. Eight RAF flights were due in Kabul on Friday, all scheduled to stop over in Dubai before continuing to various parts of the UK.
Extra support for Afghans being resettled in Britain has been announced by the government, including £5m for housing provision to local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland, offering all refugees their first Covid jab and access to mental wellbeing services. The amount of humanitarian aid for Afghanistan is also being doubled, to £286m, with immediate effect.
It remains unclear how long the US will stay in position to hold Kabul airport, and whether the Taliban will continue to let people leave the country, a situation described as an “unholy equilibrium” by one insider.
Britain still fears the airlift could end within days, ahead of the 31 August deadline set by the US president, Joe Biden, despite reassurances he gave earlier this week that it could continue until every last American was out.
A backbench Labour MP, Stella Creasy, called for Afghan refugees to be housed in the Nightingale hospitals set up by the army to deal with Covid patients, amid concern that problems with setting up emergency accommodation is delaying the number who can be rescued.
“Time is fast running out to get people out of Afghanistan … we have spare capacity through the Nightingale system and a well-established NGO community who are used to running such centres. With days, maybe hours, to sort this there is no time to waste – the government must secure these sites so that people can come now before Kabul airport closes for good.”
