A local MP is eager to help reunite Perthshire residents with loved ones stuck in Afghanistan.
Over the past week Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart has been contacted by concerned constituents.
Mr Wishart has vowed to do everything he can to help and has urged anyone who needs direct assistance to contact his office.
Over the weekend there have been reports of thousands of people crowding outside Kabul airport seeking to escape the Taliban takeover.
Up to 20,000 Afghans could seek asylum in the UK as the nation, along with the US, seeks to evacuate its foreign nationals and eligible Afghans from Kabul.
At an emergency meeting of G7 world leaders today (August 24), prime minister Boris Johnson will ask US president Joe Biden for an extension to the August 31 evacuation deadline in order to allow more flights.
Mr Wishart said: “We will do everything at our disposal to assist anybody who has family members trying to evacuate from Kabul.
“We are actively assisting in a number of cases and have been able to make applications for relocation to UK ground forces working out of Kabul airport.
“We are in communication with the Foreign Office on behalf of family members who are currently in Perth anxious to be reunited with family members and now nervously await an outcome.
“If there is anybody at all in need of direct assistance please contact my office and we will respond immediately if any intervention can be made.
“The quickest way to contact me out of hours is by e-mail at pete.wishart.mp@parliament.uk and if you send your contact details to me we will call you back as a matter of urgency.”
In light of the crisis, the PA reported last week that the leader of Perth and Kinross Council said the region has to take as many desperate Afghan refugees it can in response to the humanitarian crisis. All of PKC’s political leaders also agreed to progress with moves to welcome refugees fleeing the Taliban takeover.
Council leader Murray Lyle said: “The very fragile situation in Afghanistan is clearly of concern, and we understand the impact this can have on people there who have worked side by side with our armed forces and officials.
“We are well placed through previous experience of relocation schemes and our multi-agency working approach, to welcome and support Afghan locally employed staff and their families to become part of our communities here in Perth and Kinross.”
The council leader said officers were currently looking into options as to how they could accommodate those seeking refuge here in terms of housing, schooling and access to facilities.
