A Glasgow cabbie has been forced to return to Scotland without his wife and children after they were unable to board an evacuation flight from Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.
Jan Mohammed Ahmadzai's who has lived and worked in Glasgow for 16 years, was visiting his wife and children in the Afghan capital when the city fell in August last year.
His family were authorised to join him on a flight out of Afghanistan in November, but outbreaks of violence made it too unsafe for them to get to the airport. Instead, they fled to Pakistan, the Daily Record reports.
Four months on, the 43-year-old - who has a British passport and a Pakistan visa - made the heartbreaking decision to leave his family behind and return to Glasgow without them after running out of money to feed them.
He told the Record: "I am very stressed about my kids future. They are missing school and they have no education.
"I have no money and no financial help. I had to leave as I thought 'what are we going to do now'? 'How are we going to eat'? 'How can I feed my kids'?
"Right now I have no money to feed them and that is why I forced myself to leave them.
"Even at the very last minute I didn't want to leave them."
Wife Wakeela and children Wajid, 11, Yousaf, 10, Leena, seven, Sammi, five, and baby Ishaq do not have British passports, and so previously remained in Afghanistan while Jan worked in the UK.
But despite being eligible for the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, the family are stuck in limbo as they feel no closer to being accepted for the scheme.
Jan hoped that being back in the UK would make it easier to obtain answers from Home Office officials but says he has still received no help.
The dad had been holding out hope his family would be granted entry to the country.
Another route for the family to enter the UK would be to apply for visas but official documents they would need for their applications were destroyed in the Kabul Airport suicide bombing on August 26.
To obtain Afghan identity cards for the process, they would need to travel back to their home country and face the Taliban.
Jan added: "We had to flee because of the Taliban. To go back and get identity cards - every office is Taliban controlled and they can clearly identify you.
"I have a British passport and that is not safe for me.
"If I need to go back to Afghanistan it will be the UK Government responsible that, for me and my life."
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"I had to take my wife to see a psychiatrist three times after the bomb blast as we were so close. She saw dead bodies and injured people who were lying in blood.
"She saw all of that so she is not what she used to be. My kids - even Sammi - if you blow a balloon up they cover their ears in case it bursts because it reminds them of the bomb.
"Everybody is suffering physically and mentally. They are scared."
After seeking legal advice Jan has been informed he needs to show the government he is earning £29,000 per year to apply for his family to be given visas.
On top of this, the process will cost around £10,000 and with Jan still looking for work and clearing off debts he racked up while he was away, he believes their only option is the resettlement scheme.
"They say in the scheme we are guaranteed entry but they don't give you information and when you phone the Home Office they say they can't help you," Jan said.
"Ukrainians are in crisis and I feel so bad for them as we have been in their situation.
"But for an unknown Ukrainian family a British person can sponsor them to come here. I'm a British citizen and I can't even sponsor my own kids - my own flesh and blood.
"I want my family next to me. The scheme is our final hope."
People authorised for evacuation who were not able to board a flight are offered a place under the scheme if they subsequently come to the UK.
Spouses, partners and dependent children under the age of 18 of these individuals are also allowed entry.
Jan was authorised for evacuation and has since returned to the UK but says his family being required to travel to the UK despite being authorised was never made clear.
From spring 2022, the UNHCR will refer refugees to the scheme and Jan hopes to be one of these families.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "The UK is taking a leading role in the international response to supporting at-risk Afghan citizens and has made one of the largest commitments to resettlement of any country.
“The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 Afghan women, children and other at risk groups with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.”
