{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/64d53bc8af8fd800117b9642/670e4cce95a9a204752dfee9?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Hundreds of Afghan soldiers to be allowed to relocate to UK after U-turn","description":"<p>The government says it is allowing some \"eligible\" Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside the British military to resettle in the UK, after they were previously rejected.</p><p><br></p><p>Under the previous government, about 2,000 Afghans who served with specialist units - known at the \"Triples\" - were denied permission to relocate to the UK after the Taliban takeover in 2021.</p><p><br></p><p>Armed forces minister Luke Pollard told the House of Commons a review had now found some applications were wrongly turned down.</p><p><br></p><p>Pollard said there was no evidence of \"malicious intent\" in the initial decision-making process, instead blaming poor record-keeping for any errors.</p><p><br></p><p>The so-called \"Triples\" were elite units of Afghan soldiers set up, funded and run by the UK.</p><p><br></p><p>On Monday, Pollard said the government has so far overturned 25% of the rejections.</p><p><br></p><p>He said a review had found new evidence that some of the Afghan soldiers had been directly paid by the UK government, meaning they were eligible for resettlement - and this evidence had been \"overlooked\" during the initial resettlement applications.</p><p><br></p><p>These errors were caused by a “failure to access and share the right digital records, and challenges with information flows across departmental lines\", he said.</p><p><br></p><p>He criticised the previous government for a \"critical failure\" in locating the correct paperwork.</p><p><br></p><p>The defence minister said the government had reviewed many of the cases as a matter of urgency because many of the Afghan troops \"remain at risk\" under Taliban rule.</p><p><br></p><p>Some of the Triples are reported to have been targeted and killed by the Taliban.</p>","author_name":"Daily SumUp"}