Council to rehome Afghan families

And Tonbridge has vowed to take refugees from the stricken state too.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council [TWBC] was due to announce that they would be helping find a home for an Afghan translator and their family under the Afghan Locally Employed Staff Relocation scheme but given the worsening situation in the country the authority decided to see if it was possible to offer assistance to more people.

Councillor Andy Fairweather, Cabinet member for Communities and Wellbeing at TWBC said: “I think residents who are aware of what’s been happening in Afghanistan will agree we have an obligation to help these people, many of whom have risked their lives to help our troops.

“I am very pleased we’re going to be able to help more than one family this year. It is the right thing to do.”

The Council has previously helped Afghan interpreters settle in the area and has housed and supported Syrian families following the conflict in that region.

The Afghan families will be living in private rented accommodation but the Council said they would like to hear from landlords who have family sized homes that could support the resettlement initiative so they can rehouse more.

Across the UK local councils have pledged to rehome Afghan refugees after the Government announced the UK will take up to 20,000 people fleeing the Taliban.

Offers of help have come from various parts of the country following the fall of Afghan capital Kabul to the militant group last week.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has also pledged to take in refugees from the troubled country but has not yet said how many it can accommodate.

Kim Tanner, the Tonbridge Council’s cabinet member for housing, said the council previously stepped forward to support 12 Syrian refugee families following the trouble in that region and the authority was too appealing for landlords to get in touch.

Any landlords in Tunbridge Wells able to offer accommodation are asked to get in touch with the housing team on 01892 526121 while Tonbridge landlords should email housing.services@tmbc.gov.uk.