Revealed: UK has failed to resettle Afghans facing torture and death despite promise

Those who risked their lives helping British government face a toxic combination of incompetence and indifference'

Afghan nationals who were promised resettlement to the UK nearly a year ago are facing torture and death while they wait for a response from the British government, the Observer can reveal.

Not one person has been accepted and evacuated from Afghanistan under the Home Office's Afghan citizens' resettlement scheme (ACRS), launched in January, prompting claims that ministers are showing a toxic combination of incompetence and indifference". The scheme was intended to help Afghans who worked for, or were affiliated with, the British government - including its embassy staff and British Council teachers - and all of whom face severe harm at the hands of the Taliban.