Afghan family refused UK visas to join son, 13, evacuated from Kabul

An MoD image of Operation Pitting, the evacuation from Kabul airport (faces have been blurred). Photograph: LPhot Ben Shread/MoD/Crown Copyright/PA

The Home Office has rejected a visa application from a family trapped in Afghanistan, whose son was evacuated to the UK during the fall of Kabul.

Ahmad (not his real name) was brought to the UK at the age of 10 with his uncle and aunt during Operation Pitting in 2021, when about 15,000 British nationals and eligible Afghans were evacuated from Afghanistan during a Taliban offensive.