Does Briton have a moral duty to take in as many Afghan refugees as possible?

A report in the Guardian today from a correspondent in Berlin.

"Taliban fighters trying to track down western-affiliated journalists allegedly shot dead a family member of an editor working for Deutsche Welle and seriously injured another, the German public broadcaster has said.

The state-owned broadcaster said the Taliban had carried out house-to-house searches in western Afghanistan to try to find the journalist, who had already relocated to Germany.

Other family members managed to escape at the last minute and were now on the run, a Deutsche Welle spokesperson said."

Not a single plane has left Kabul in 8 hours.

The situation is simply getting worse and worse.

19th August: No empty planes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58266555

20th August: Picture of empty plane. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58266555

Oops - correct links this time.

19th August: No empty planes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58266555

20th August: Picture of empty plane. www.standard.co.uk/news/world/flight-leaves-afghanistan-empty-attempts-evacuate-b951540.html

I should imagine that if a plane has a take-off slot it has to use it or risk waiting for as ever long as the next available slot.

The Norwegian plane was not empty, it was just not full, slight difference.

There are millions of people trying to leave but they couldn't find enough to fill a plane? They couldn't expedite the paperwork to get people out?

I'm not convinced. No excuse.

Alegrias1

There are millions of people trying to leave but they couldn't find enough to fill a plane? They couldn't expedite the paperwork to get people out?

I'm not convinced. No excuse.

Not sure if you are blaming the U.K. for the Norwegian plane not being full or the Norwegians?

Not blaming the UK particularly. Contrary to popular opinion I don't think the UK is the Evil Empire. I'm pointing out he fact that our Defence Secretary said there were no empty planes and one (nearly empty) plane left Kabul.

Any weasel words about how it wasn't a British plane will fall on deaf ears, I feel.

In times of crisis, most people wouldn't care if you were British, Norwegian. Afghan or Klingon. If there are seats available, get people into them.

I agree that planes taking off with empty seats is criminal considering the circumstances in Afghanistan.

The U.K. Defence Secretary was speaking about U.K. planes, he doesn’t have the authority to speak for other Countries and their evacuation flights.

Alegrias1 it is the Taliban surrounding the area that is preventing people reaching the airport, they really are the ones to blame.

U.K. paratroopers are doing their best, they are leaving the airport compound to help people.

But that is not the point in question as I see it. The Defence minister said planes were not leaving with empty seats. ~They were.
I am convinced that ministers have a set script sent out each morning to which they must rigidly adhere . Perhaps they should be left to answer for themselves.

We should all know by know that our government is totally corrupt and they lie and lie and lie just like they did five years ago to win the fraudulent referendum..

varian

We should all know by know that our government is totally corrupt and they lie and lie and lie just like they did five years ago to win the fraudulent referendum..

Yup, and they don't even pretend to tell the truth anymore, knowing that their supporters will defend them come what may. Irrespective of the fact that they are Tories, and with the exception of the few who, in the last few days, have put their moral code before their careers, this government is shameful, a disgrace to its name, liars, cheats and totally unfit for office. Anyone who thinks they are doing a good job in any area of the administration has got very different standards, different expectations of behaviour to me and mine. Raab has lied repeatedly, but nobody seems to care. I am not surprised, but I do care. As for Johnson, well, I think my opinion of him is very well documented.

Anyone got any ideas?
I’m sure they would be welcome. The airport is surrounded.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9913271/Our-boys-stand-Kabul-British-paratroopers-desperately-hold-line-Afghanistan.html

They are doing their best under the most extreme of circumstances:
news.sky.com/story/afghanistan-british-soldiers-rush-to-aid-baby-in-blistering-heat-at-kabul-airport-12386254

Evacuation of foreign nationals and their Afghan staff by country 2 days ago:
www.reuters.com/world/evacuations-afghanistan-by-country-2021-08-18/

Actually MerylStreep that’s a good question. It’s easy to say what we’re doing wrong. Harder to say how you could do it. Thanks for the links Callistemon.

@Whitewavemark2. Thinking about the accusation that the Afghan army were cowards or traitors or some such because they were unwilling to fight.

Agree with everything you said in this post. The American withdrawal after 20 years of providing support, training and weaponry, must have been devastating to the Afghan army’s morale. Just learning on the news now, that the official Taliban ‘negotiator’ is a terrorist linked to Al Qaeda, on America’s most wanted list, and was the instigator of demand that the Afghan army ‘surrender’.

When did needing to resign for lying to parliament change?
John Profumo resigned not because of his affair with Christine Keeler etc but because he lied about it in the HoC. He was an honourable man in that sense and his wife - Valerie Hobson - stuck by him.
Bring back those old days!

When the fifth horseman came on the scene?

Welshwife

When did needing to resign for lying to parliament change?
John Profumo resigned not because of his affair with Christine Keeler etc but because he lied about it in the HoC. He was an honourable man in that sense and his wife - Valerie Hobson - stuck by him.
Bring back those old days!

Johnson had to resign years ago when he lied to Michael Howard about the allegations of mistresses and several abortions.

Yes but only the ones with proof of who are. Not an illegal immigrant. My 76yr aunt was rape by 2 of them.

Nanashirlz what an appalling thing to happen, but sadly the sort of scum that commit crimes like that are indiscriminately scattered across all ethnicities and most are born and bred British. Illegal presence in this country is not a necessary qualification for committing such crimes.

The difficult thing at present is for even those Afghanis with a right to refuge in this country, they often do not have the necessary paperwork when they arrive.

The terrible conditions many were living in before the events of recent weeks - moving from house to house, hiding from those who wish to kill them, the difficulty, as a result of receiving papers, the dreadful scenes of threats and violence on the way to the airport, mean that many arrive at the airport without papers of any kind, barely the clothes they stand up in.

Now we have the government saying they will not accept Afghanis who worked for the british, but via contractors. I despair of this despicable government.

I have written to both my current and previous conservative MPs on this subject several times and not once have I received anything but an automatic acknowledgement to my queries.

It's a difficult one. Of course we should be helping the Afghans, especially the ones that were helping the British Forces. But, If we are taking people indiscriminately, how do we know we are not taking in terrorists. There so many other senarios. Homes will be found for them here, as with the Channel migrants, yet there are so many British people who are either homeless or are living in crowded conditions because of the shortage of council homes.
The scenes and reports from Afghanistan are heartbreaking I know. Should more Islamic states offer help? I don't know the answers and would not like to be the one making the decisions.
I do know that we should proceed with great caution though.
And as for that pathetic excuse of a US President, agreeing to a deadline of 6/7 days to get everyone out - words fail me.

Somebody else posted this but I can't find the original post or I'd credit it.

We've really not been doing our share and we need to stop thinking everyone in the world is out to get us.

Alegrias1

Somebody else posted this but I can't find the original post or I'd credit it.

We've really not been doing our share and we need to stop thinking everyone in the world is out to get us.

I completely disagree with you Alegrias1 we are a tiny country compared with most of the others, where the hell are we going to put them all, plus the channel migrants.

It isn't the water rising because of global warming, it is the county sinking under the weight.