LONDON: A group of UK military leaders and MPs are calling on the government in an open letter to fulfill its “debt of honour” and protect Afghan refugees, The Independent reports.

The letter to the prime minister, signed by figures including former British Army chief General Richard Dannatt and former NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, described it as a “disgrace” that Afghans remain trapped in dangerous conditions.

It followed reports that nearly 2,000 Afghans who were eligible to move to the UK have been abandoned in hotels across Pakistan after fleeing their home country following the Taliban takeover.

Although more than 1,000 Afghans were resettled from Pakistan last year, the UK government has since quietly canceled the scheme, with only six people having been transferred to Britain from the country since December.

The open letter urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take charge, adding that thousands of Afghans, who previously served alongside British forces, had been forgotten and abandoned.

MP Dan Jarvis, a former army officer who served in Afghanistan, told The Independent: “I think Afghanistan is very much in the mirror and there is no political will to live up to the commitments made previously.

These are not economic migrants; These are not people who just want to leave Afghanistan for a better life. These are the people who will be killed by the Taliban if they don’t get to a safe place.

“These are the people who, at our request, have risked their lives to serve alongside us in support of our mission, and to whom the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has committed heaven and earth to deliver them to a place of safety.”

Since the Taliban seized power, 21,387 people have been transferred to the UK through the Afghan Resettlement and Assistance Policy.

But the letter warned that delays in the scheme had created a “bottleneck” in Pakistan, with nearly 2,000 Afghans remaining “in limbo” in the country, waiting for the final green light to move to the UK.

The issue of Afghans staying in British hotels has also been a sensitive issue for the government, with ministers keen to move existing refugees into traditional accommodation before accepting new Afghan arrivals.

The open letter said those still trapped in Afghanistan were in a “desperate” situation.

Some of them have been there for a year, and they are facing a second year. They believe that the British government is working to enable them to start their new lives in the UK. They are wrong.

“These are people who have passed the rigorous tests. They have risked their lives, along with our service men and women, to support UK objectives in Afghanistan.

“It is inconceivable that we retreat from our honorable debt and forget them.”

Senior military figures trying to pressure the government on its commitments to the Afghans described a “messy situation” in Westminster, with several departments abdicating responsibility for resolving the matter.

One of the signatories to the letter said the government seemed “very happy that this issue has been forgotten and swept under the rug”.