As Afghan refugees fled their country in August after the regime took over, the latest figures from the Home Office show that only 770 have been resettled across the UK with Bradford taking in the most.

When the Resettlement Scheme was introduced, the Government emphasized that the refugees would be evenly distributed across the UK, however, they decided against this.

More than 300 councils stepped up to offer support and housing for refugees according to the Home Office, including Bradford, Kirklees and Leeds.

Of the 770 Afghan refugees that had been resettled by the end of September 2021, figures from the Home Office show that Yorkshire and the Humber took in 213, with Bradford taking in seven refugee families.

Seven families, 32 refugees have been offered housing and support in the Bradford district through the council and Horton Housing.

Gudrun Carlisle, Services Director for Horton Housing, said: “Horton Housing sources accommodation and provides support to refugees who come to Bradford on managed migration programmes.

“The support we provide includes finding a suitable place for families and individuals to live, based on their individual needs. We also liaise with education providers to find school places for children and health providers to ensure health needs are met. This includes specialist trauma counselling where needed.

“We provide English language classes for speakers of other languages (ESOL) and cultural orientation classes to help people integrate into their new community.

“A support worker regularly visits families to help them with housing and other issues such as setting up utilities, registering with a dentist and GP, paying bills, finding employment, training or education, managing money and accessing community and faith groups.

“We provide support for three years. The first 12 months’ support is more intensive, and support then tapers as refugee families develop their own community networks and feel settled in their new home.

“After 12 months, we continue to provide support and assistance to find employment through special programmes, including Connecting Opportunities and STEP.”

Other charities across Bradford are supporting the Refugees in any way that they can including the Millside Centre in Bradford.

Millside centres have supported other refugees who have come to Bradford over the years and the group of refugees who have now made Bradford home wanted to help the Afghan refugees.

The centre hosts a knitting group and participants crafted handmade knitted goods for Afghan refugee families through the Christmas period, to help them keep warm.