[5] The first large wave of Afghan immigrants to the UK were political refugees fleeing the 1980s communist regime and numerous others came in the early 1990s escaping Mujahideen.
[5] As stated earlier, one of the large flows of Afghans to the UK was caused by refugees fleeing Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power.
This marked a break from the previous policy, observed continuously since 1978, of not returning any Afghans to their country of origin whether or not they were deemed to be economic migrants.
At the time, roughly 700 Afghans applied for asylum in the United Kingdom each month, making them one of the largest group of asylum-seekers along with Iraqis.
[8] Following the completion of the withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, the UK government launched the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) in January 2022, to provide resettlement in the UK for Afghans who had worked for or were linked to the British government's presence in the country.
[9] Afghan asylum seekers in the UK are facing homelessness as they are evicted from Home Office hotels without alternative housing.
The government's plan to relocate 8,000 Afghans by August has raised concerns due to a housing shortage and long waiting lists.
The Local Government Association has expressed difficulties in securing accommodation, while the Home Office emphasizes that hotels are not meant for long-term stays.
[10] On 4 August 2023, amidst the UK's acute housing shortage and 104,510 households in temporary accommodations, local councils face strain.
[14] The 2011 census recorded 62,161 people born in Afghanistan living in England, 562 in Wales,[15] 737 in Scotland[16] and 36 in Northern Ireland.
Ethnologue estimates that there are 75,000 native Northern Pashto speakers in the UK, although these may comprise persons of other nationalities as well as Afghans.