Labour offers too litte, too late for Afghan women and girls | Letter

Regarding your article (UK to open new refugee resettlement routes for Afghan women and Palestinians, 27 September), rather than focusing on whether or not Shabana Mahmood’s policy change will deter small boat arrivals (which it won’t), shouldn’t we be in uproar over her use of the language of “compassion” and “international obligations”?

Considering Ed Miliband’s admission at the Labour conference that the party has not done enough to support the Palestinian people – and the abrupt closure of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme with almost no notice on 1 July 2025, again under Labour leadership – is this not a case of too little, too late?

Mine and others’ research with Afghan women living in so-called “refugee hotels” throws Mahmood’s sudden concern for “vulnerable women and girls” into sharp focus. A significant proportion of Afghan women and girls who arrived in British hotels after the so-called fall of Kabul in August 2021 experienced violence, were isolated from essential support services and were evicted by the Home Office with guidance to seek permanent accommodation on Rightmove.

In a time when the far right is increasingly weaponising the discourse of “protecting vulnerable women and girls” from what they consider to be violent male migrants, Mahmood should reflect carefully on Labour’s rediscovered sense of duty towards Afghan women, and the effect on Afghan women and girls caused by the government’s own policies.

The government would do well to consider the research of academics such as Louise Ryan, Caroline Oliver and their team of Afghan peer researchers who use evidence-based approaches to understanding the experiences of migrants and refugees in the UK.
Eleanor Luxton
London