Foreign Secretary Raab: UK Mulls Sheltering Afghan Journalists Who Worked With UK Media

LONDON (Sputnik) - UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said his country is considering sheltering the Afghan journalists who cooperated with the British media, The Independent reported on Saturday.

"Under existing schemes, we are able to consider individual cases for relocation on an exceptional basis, where there is evidence they are under imminent threat due to the nature of their engagement with the UK", Raab said in a reply letter, as quoted by The Independent.

The foreign secretary called the Afghan media "vibrant" institutions, and said they were a real success in the past 20 years, therefore, the media should be "protected".

"Journalists (and those supporting them) can be eligible for our support, depending on the individual circumstances that apply", Raab noted in the letter.

In this picture taken on August 1, 2021, Afghan National Army commando forces walk along a road amid ongoing fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces in the Enjil district of Herat province

© AFP 2023 / HOSHANG HASHIMI

A spike in violence by the Taliban* is now being observed in Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of international troops. The pullout was part of the US-Taliban peace deal concluded in Doha in 2020. The troops are scheduled to leave the country by 11 September.

On Wednesday, it was reported that a joint letter by 23 UK media platforms was sent to the foreign secretary and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, urging the authorities to protect Afghanistan's media representatives amid the rise of the Taliban's violence in the country.

*Taliban, a terrorist group banned in Russia and a number of other countries