SOUTHEND has taken in more than 100 Afghan refugees who fled their homes when the Taliban took control over the country, fresh figures have revealed.

New figures from the Home Office show that more than 20,000 Afghans have settled in the UK, with 124 of those living in Southend as of the end of June.

The Government launched two schemes to relocate Afghan citizens in 2021 and 2022, focusing on helping those who worked with the UK during the war in Afghanistan and vulnerable groups.

Shortly after the war broke out in Afghanistan in August, almost 100 refugees moved into The Park Inn hotel, in Church Road.

At the start of this month, Southend Council confirmed that a number of the refugee families have now left the the hotel, where they had been since September 2021.

The remaining families who stayed in the hotel are awaiting moves to other accommodation.

The International Rescue Committee UK said the numbers “reveal the shocking reality of the Government’s failure to provide protection for vulnerable Afghans”.

For comparison, the Homes for Ukraine scheme – which offers temporary accommodation to Ukrainians escaping Russian invasion – has seen more than 120,000 arrivals across the UK since it launched by the end of June. This included 198 due to stay with hosts in Southend.

Laura Kyrke-Smith, executive director of the International Rescue Committee said: “In pushing forward the Illegal Migration Act, the Government time and time again assured concerned Parliamentarians and the British public that there existed ‘safe routes’ for refugees from countries like Afghanistan.

“These statistics show that these routes simply aren’t matching the scale of the need. Instead, the majority of the almost 10,000 Afghans seeking safety in the UK were forced to make dangerous journeys across the Channel.”

There were 6,575 Afghans in hotels or serviced accommodation by the end of June across the UK – half of whom were children, figures show. They were given a deadline to leave hotels by the end of August.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “No one should be risking their lives by crossing the Channel or taking dangerous and illegal routes – there are safe and legal routes to come here. The number of Afghans which the UK has committed to resettling is generous, and greater than many of our international counterparts.”