Senior Tories have urged Boris Johnson to let in tens of thousands of fleeing Afghans when he unveils what is promised to be a “world-leading” resettlement scheme.
Two former ministers said the UK had “a duty” to be as generous as nations such as Canada, ahead of an expected announcement at an emergency Commons debate on Wednesday.
But Priti Patel vowed to maintain “vital national security checks” to counter the terror threat posed by the chaos in Afghanistan, the home secretary adding: “We will not compromise on security.”
The prime minister is expected to set up a legal immigration route separate from the standard asylum system, targeted particularly at women and girls and modelled on the help given to Syrians.
The current Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme only applies to “current or former locally employed staff assessed to be at serious risk of threat to life”.
Canada has announced the country will resettle 20,000 vulnerable Afghans, including human rights workers, journalists and female leaders, with Germany expected to admit up to 10,000.
Caroline Nokes, the former immigration minister, said Afghans are “rightly scared” and that the UK’s role in and after the 2001 invasion meant it had “a duty to them to help now”.
“For 20 years, we have sought to help the people of Afghanistan, to liberate them from a terrible oppressive regime,” she told BBC Radio 4.
“We have worked alongside them, we have encouraged them to take up elected office, to play roles in society that they would not previously have done so.”
Asked if that meant letting in “20,000, 30,000, 50,000”, Ms Nokes pointed to the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) for Syria – through which 20,000 refugees have arrived.
Tobias Ellwood, the former defence minister, told the PoliticsHome website, the number should be “at least in the tens of thousands”.
“All the countries that were involved have a duty and an obligation to provide safe haven, given where we’ve left the country”, the chair of the Commons defence committee said.
The Liberal Democrats said they backed resettling at least 20,000 Afghans, while Keir Starmer said it was up to the prime minister to “answer that question” in parliament.
“Before we get to a number, the first question is getting our international partners round a table, including neighbouring countries to Afghanistan, to draw up an urgent plan for the safe and legal exit of refugees that inevitably will flow from this,” the Labour leader said.
He added: “I don’t think a question of numbers at this stage is a helpful discussion. The first discussion has to be: is there a plan, is there a strategy?”
Sir Keir also attacked both Mr Johnson and Dominic Raab being on holiday during the fall of Kabul, saying: “For the prime minister and the foreign secretary to be missing in action at this vital time is something that everybody thinks is wrong.”
The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils “stand ready” to “ensure new arrivals get the support they need to settle into their new communities”.
