Afghanistan two years on: How Taliban takeover has impacted Peterborough with 25 families settled

Peterborough is now home to 25 families who fled Afghanistan when the Taliban took power.

The fundamentalist Islamist group took over the nation’s capital, Kabul, on 15th August, 2021, cementing their return.

Foreign forces left the country as the Taliban expanded their territory, followed by millions of citizens; tens of thousands of whom have sought refuge from the regime in the UK.

In Peterborough, those who have found permanent residence are living in a mixture of social housing, council-leased properties and private rented properties.

Of the 25 families now settled here, nine chose to move to the city and found their own accommodation, Peterborough City Council (PCC) says.

Others have been settled under Government schemes; the council agreed to help settle around 100 individuals, largely in family units, in the city as part of the national Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).

But there are more Afghan asylum seekers not included in these figures, still housed at two hotels in Peterborough: the Great Northern and The Verve.

The Home Office, which made the decision to place those waiting for a decision on their asylum applications in these hotels, has not given an indication they intend to move them at this stage, PCC has said in an update.

At the end of the month, some hotels across the country housing Afghan refugees will be closed, it added, but this does not apply to Peterborough.

This is because it applies to hotels occupied by refugees who have been legally resettled but are awaiting permanent accommodation rather than those not yet resettled.

The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has had local, national and international impacts over the past two years and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in this period has only led to more displaced people coming to the UK.

Here’s how the Taliban take over has impacted Peterborough:

• August 2021: PCC says it will help home refugees fleeing Afghanistan after Kabul takeover
• October 2021: Preparations begin for first arrivals
• February 2022: Faizan e Madinah mosque in Peterborough raises £4,000 to support people of Afghanistan
• July 2022: Nine children from Afghanistan confirmed to have been given places at Peterborough schools
• November 2022: Council learns the Great Northern and The Verve will be used to house asylum seekers. It also considers, then drops, court action to try to prevent the former being used
• March 2023: Council says it won’t waste taxpayers’ money trying to remove asylum seekers from Great Northern as it doesn’t have a reasonable chance of success
• July 2023: Council agrees to buy 25 new homes to resettle refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine
• August 2023: 25 families confirmed to be settled; hotels remain occupied by asylum seekers