UK government must reveal plans to support journalists fleeing from Afghanistan
The NUJ is calling on the UK government to confirm its plans to support journalists and other media workers fleeing Afghanistan as part of its Afghan Resettlement Scheme, which has committed to resettle 5,000 Afghans in the first year of a five year plan totalling 20,000.
Despite assurances earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has yet to follow through on his commitment to help media workers, leaving journalists trapped in Kabul and in fear of their lives.
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet today called upon the government to take urgent action:
"News of an Afghan resettlement scheme was obviously a welcome one, but it is lacking in both detail and ambition. We know there are significant numbers of Afghan journalists and media workers who have direct links to UK employers who need our help, but there are also many other journalists and media workers whose commitment to journalism and impartial reporting over many years puts them at grave risk and in need of urgent assistance. This is not the time to be putting arbitrary caps on the number of people we can support or lives we can save. This is the time to do the right thing and to act swiftly before it is too late.
"The NUJ along with the IFJ and our Afghan sister unions can provide help to safely submit names of those in need of urgent and swift help to leave the country. We cannot let bureaucratic hurdles slow things down. Other governments are working with the IFJ to get journalists out to a place of safety and then onward resettlement, and the UK must urgently follow suit."
NUJ members continue to rally in support of the call to donate to the IFJ’s urgent appeal to help Afghan colleagues. Donate online to the Safety Fund for Afghan colleagues here -
https://www.ifj.org/safety-fund.html