WINCHESTER’S council leader has written to the Home Secretary urging the Government to do more for Afghan refugees.

Cllr Lucille Thompson has written to Priti Patel following the collapse of the Afghan Government following the withdrawal of NATO forces earlier this year.

Last month the city council announced that it would find council accommodation for two Afghan families but Cllr Thompson said it is willing to do more.

Her letter states: “Winchester City Council is ready and willing to play its part in supporting Afghan refugees who are being forced out of their country.

“Given the Taliban’s history of brutality towards its opponents and repression of the rights of women and girls, the UK has a responsibility to do all it can to support the many Afghan citizens whose rights and freedoms are in deep jeopardy.

“The Afghan citizens’ resettlement scheme announced this week proposes to resettle 5,000 Afghan nationals who are at risk due to the current crisis, in its first year. This equates to only eight Afghan nationals per UK parliamentary constituency. As a country, we could and should do much more for the millions of Afghan citizens who are at risk of persecution at the hands of the Taliban.

“Winchester City Council stands by and is very willing to take a fair share of the Afghan asylum seekers that need to be rehomed following recent events.

“Where they are barriers to rehoming these Afghan citizens in our District, we will do everything possible to overcome them.

"We have successfully homed eight families through the Syrian Refugee Resettlement scheme in the Winchester district and we recently confirmed our commitment to support and house families under the previous Afghan Locally Employed Staff (LES) Relocation scheme."

Winchester City Council has celled on the Government to:

1) expedite the new scheme and take on larger numbers of Afghan refugees than currently proposed;

2) create a fair resettlement program ensuring refugees are housed across the country;

3) provide funding for the new scheme at levels which avoid penalising authorities in high cost areas.

“We await hearing from you as a matter of urgency.