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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World

Labour offers too little, too late for Afghan women and girls

A piece of handicraft is displayed at a handicrafts production facility in Kabul, Afghanistan, 24 September 2026.
Embroidery by Afghan women. ‘A significant proportion of Afghan women and girls who arrived in British hotels in 2021 have experienced violence.’ Photograph: Samiullah Popal/EPA

Regarding your article (UK to open new refugee resettlement routes for Afghan women and Palestinians, 27 September), rather than focusing on whether or not Shabana Mahmood’s policy change will deter small boat arrivals (which it won’t), shouldn’t we be in uproar over her use of the language of “compassion” and “international obligations”?

Considering Ed Miliband’s admission at the Labour conference that the party has not done enough to support the Palestinian people – and the abrupt closure of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme with almost no notice on 1 July 2025, again under Labour leadership – is this not a case of too little, too late?

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