Ahead of a debate in Parliament on Wednesday to discuss the withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan, Ulster Unionist leader, Doug Beattie MC MLA, has stated:
“A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Afghanistan. There are five million displaced people within the country. For those that remain we must come together to support them and for those who leave we must work to provide them with a safe home. Men, women and young boys and girls are fleeing the country in their thousands, including those who worked with us and those who worked for us. It is important that Northern Ireland comes together along with the rest of the international community to support these people. If they need a home, it is important that we in Northern Ireland open our doors to give them a home.
“In our time of need they supported us, and in their time of need we must support them. The Northern Ireland Executive should play its part, working with the United Kingdom Government, to provide a safe haven in our own land for those people who face imminent threat from the human rights abuses of the Taliban.
“As Parliament sits to debate the failure of the western world to live up to its promises to the freedom loving people of Afghanistan, we as a country, including our own Executive, must do everything possible to help our Afghan allies escape and establish new lives for their families in the United Kingdom.”