UK home office to house Afghan asylum seekers in permanent homes as British homeless crisis worsens

Under Operation Warm Welcome, announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in August, the around 15,000 Afghan refugees that arrived in Britain that had previously worked with the country back in Afghanistan will be able to stay permanently.

"This includes the creation of a central portal where people, organizations and businesses can register their offer of support, be it volunteering, a job opportunity, professional skills to help with integration and deal with trauma or donations of items like clothes and toys. Free English language courses will also be provided in recognition that many of the dependents of former staff and Afghan translators may need this," according to a statement released by Johnson's office.

After arriving in Britain, the refugees were required to spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel. According to Sky News, these refugees were then supposed to be moved into temporary "bridging accommodation" until permanent homes could be found. Now, facing a housing shortage, many of these Afghan refugees have stayed in these hotels well past the 10-day mark.

One interpreter who arrived with his wife and son in July is still waiting for permanent housing, with all three currently placed in a single room in what is normally a house for the homeless, along with two other Afghan families.

"It is quite uncomfortable at the moment," he said. "It is a small place, but we have to manage until they find a place."

"They are not giving a guarantee on how long it will take, but they are giving us hope that they are working on this issue," he added.

The leader of the council at Kensington and Chelsea said some 800 Afghan refugees are living in three hotels in her borough.

Another crisis is being elevated by this housing shortage. According to Crisis UK, a charity organization focused on ending homelessness within the country, the number of people facing homelessness has risen sharply within the last decade.

"'Core homelessness' in England – a concept which captures the most severe and immediate forms of homelessness – is estimated to have totaled nearly 220,000 in 2019, having risen from about 187,000 in 2012. During 2020 these numbers dropped somewhat to around 200,000, mainly due to the effects of the Government's emergency measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic," they wrote.

"In 2020 there were an estimated 10,500 people currently sleeping rough on any given night which had dropped by a third on the previous year," they added, though the end of the pandemic holds an uncertain future for these government measures.