Afghan asylum seekers are being discouraged from attempting journeys towards Britain by a government website posing as an unbiased source of “free, reliable and important information”.
Labour called the website “dishonourable and underhand”, as the head of the armed forces said hundreds of Afghan civilians who are eligible to come to the UK were left behind when the last evacuation flight left Kabul.
General Sir Nick Carter admitted on Saturday that “we haven't been able to bring everybody out” and said the number of eligible Afghans remaining in the country was in the “high hundreds”.
“They will always be welcome in Britain and if there are other ways of them getting out then they will definitely be welcome,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
But a website set up by the government claiming to offer “reliable migration information” does not provide details of official evacuation and resettlement schemes for Afghans, or on how to seek asylum in the UK.
Recommended Fake Home Office website targeting asylum seekers probed by Information Commissioner Home Office set up fake website to deter asylum seekers from crossing Channel with ‘misleading’ claims ‘Dysfunctional and problematic’: Home Office urged to grant asylum to thousands of Afghans stuck in limbo ‘Total mess’: Surge in asylum seekers considered for removal to EU despite UK’s failure to create return deals Afghanistan news - live: UK’s last dedicated evacuation flight leaves Kabul with troops to follow within hours
“On The Move”, which contains no government branding and uses a .org domain commonly associated with charities, remains online a month after The Independent exposed its Home Office links.
The website contains a series of pages detailing safety risks along sea and land routes towards the UK and tells readers: “The UK asylum process does not offer any advantages. It is safer and easier to apply for asylum in the country you are in now.”
Following a complaint to the Information Commissioner, the English-language version of the website has been updated to say information was “provided by the Home Office on behalf of the UK government”.
But two other versions of the site which are aimed at Afghan migrants, in Pashto and Dari and accompanied by Afghan flags, have not been updated.
They tell readers that On the Move “provides reliable information to migrants in transit” to help them avoid the “dangers of illegal immigration” and “make informed decisions”.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour’s shadow home secretary, called the website “dishonourable and underhand”.
“Nobody wants to see people risking their lives in the English Channel,” he told The Independent. “However, rather than funding a secretive and misleading website, the UK government should be concentrating on sorting out their own serious failings that have brought us to this point.
“That includes getting a workable deal with France to tackle people trafficking gangs, putting safe and legal routes back in place and addressing the factors that are driving so many desperate people from their homes in the first place.”
The Pashto version of the ‘On The Move’ website, which is also published in Dari. Both are official languages of Afghanistan
(Screengrab)
Priti Patel has said she is “dedicated” to helping those who do not escape Afghanistan as part of the UK's withdrawal, and announced a new resettlement scheme for 20,000 people.
But the rushed evacuation operation has been criticised, and warnings of a terror threat to huge crowds at Kabul Airport came to fruition with an Isis suicide bombing on Thursday.
Critics have said the new resettlement scheme is insufficient for the number of asylum seekers, including those with links to the UK, and called for the government to widen safe and legal routes.
Meanwhile, more than 3,000 Afghan asylum seekers who are already in the UK are “in limbo” after all official guidance used to decide their applications was deleted by the Home Office.
Ministers are still pressing ahead with new laws that would criminalise asylum seekers arriving by boat or any other irregular method, and allow the government to refuse to consider their claims.
The On The Move website tells migrants that the UK “regularly returns people who enter via irregular routes and have no right to be there”, although no deportation agreements have been struck with EU countries since Brexit.
“Those who seek to come to the UK unlawfully and the ruthless criminals who facilitate journeys are all breaking the law and endangering lives,” it adds.
Versions of the website aimed at Afghans urge them to contact On the Move for “free and confidential advice”, without telling them they would be contacting agents of the British government.
World news in pictures Show all 50
1/50World news in pictures
World news in pictures 28 August 2021 A child that was evacuated from Afghanistan looks on at the U.S. airbase in Ramstein, Germany
Reuters
World news in pictures 27 August 2021 Soldiers take a selfie before a military parade in Chisinau, Moldova
EPA
World news in pictures 26 August 2021 Smoke rises from the site of a suspected suicide bombing outside Kabul airport in Afghanistan
AP
World news in pictures 25 August 2021 Egypt’s Ibrahim Elhusseiny Hamadtou in action during his Men’s Singles Class 6 Group E Table Tennis match at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
PA
World news in pictures 24 August 2021 People take pictures of fireworks outside the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo
Reuters
World news in pictures 23 August 2021 Staff members spraying disinfectant at a school ahead of the new semester in Bozhou, China’s eastern Anhui province
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 22 August 2021 A Taliban fighter stands guard at a checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan area in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan
AP
World news in pictures 21 August 2021 Mexican firefighters known as "Topos" work in the early morning hours in a search and rescue mission, amid the rubble from last week's 7.2 magnitude earthquake, in Les Cayes, Haiti
AP
World news in pictures 20 August 2021 Bangladeshi vendor sells a religious item during a Muharram event at the premises of Hussaini Dalan in Dhaka, Bangladesh
EPA
World news in pictures 19 August 2021 Law enforcement officers with rifles take position near the US Capitol building in Washington DC as police investigate a possible explosive device in a truck near the heart of American government
AP
World news in pictures 18 August 2021 A Taliban fighter patrols in Wazir Akbar Khan in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan
AP
World news in pictures 17 August 2021 Art students paint messages of solidarity with people at risk in Afghanistan’s crisis outside an art school in Mumbai
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 16 August 2021 Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures 15 August 2021 Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Kandahar province in southwest Afghanistan
AP
World news in pictures 14 August 2021 A collapsed building is seen in Les Cayes, Haiti following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake which left at least 29 people dead
Reuters
World news in pictures 13 August 2021 Perseids are seen next to Milky Way during the annual Perseid meteor shower at Tres Mares peak, in Cantabria, northern Spain
EPA
World news in pictures 12 August 2021 A woman sits along the broken steps of a partially-collapsed building destroyed by bombardment during the May 2021 conflict between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures 11 August 2021 People stranded at the Pakistani-Afghan border wait for its reopening after it was closed by the Talibans, who have taken over the control of the Afghan side of the border at Chaman, Pakistan
EPA
World news in pictures 10 August 2021 Supporters cheer outside French football club Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes stadium in Paris after Argentinian football player Lionel Messi landed in Le Bourget airport to sign for the club
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 9 August 2021 People perform a folk dance to traditional music as they celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples in Mumbai, India
EPA
World news in pictures 8 August 2021 Thank you messages is displayed inside the stadium during the Olympic closing ceremony in Tokyo
Reuters
World news in pictures 7 August 2021 Pro-democracy protesters clash with police during a demonstration demanding Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-Ochas and King Maha Vajiralongkorn be held accountable for the governments failure to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, in Bangkok
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures 6 August 2021 Members of local NPO release paper lanterns on Motoyasu River in front of beside the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, as it was known before 1945, and now called the Atomic Bomb Dome, as the city marks the 76th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 5 August 2021 The Men's Decathletes pose for a photo following their competition on day thirteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan
Getty
World news in pictures 4 August 2021 Maronite clergymen pray near damaged grain silos at the port of Lebanon’s capital on the first anniversary of the blast that ravaged the port and the city
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 3 August 2021 An underwater view shows France’s Charlotte and Laura Tremble during the women’s duet technical routine artistic swimming event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 2 August 2021 Germany compete in the women's team pursuit qualifying event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Izu Velodrome
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 1 August 2021 enezuela's Yulimar Rojas competes in the women's triple jump final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Rojas took gold and broke the Olympic and World Record in the process
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 31 July 2021 Elaine Thompson-Herah celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the gold medal ahead of Jamaican teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the women's 100m final at the Tokyo Olympic Games
Reuters
World news in pictures 30 July 2021 Athletes compete during the men’s 3000m Steeplechase at the Tokyo Olympics
Reuters
World news in pictures 29 July 2021 Athletes compete in the BMX men’s Olympic quarter-finals run at the Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 28 July 2021 A picture taken with a drone shows researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University investigating a dead fin whale found in the harbor of Terneuzen, The Netherlands
EPA
World news in pictures 27 July 2021 People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk past extra papers reporting on Japanese gold medalists at Tokyo Olympics
AP
World news in pictures 26 July 2021 The ball hits Thailand's Orawan Paranang's face as she competes against Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa during her women's singles round 3 table tennis match at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 25 July 2021 A woman walks in the rubble after flooding due to heavy rains in Dinant, Belgium, a week after more than 30 people were killed in floods in the country
EPA
World news in pictures 24 July 2021 A firefighter uses a drip torch to light a backfire in an effort to stop the spread of the Dixie fire in Prattville, California
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 23 July 2021 An overview shows Japan's tennis player Naomi Osaka lighting the flame of hope in the Olympic Cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, at the Olympic Stadium, in Tokyo
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures 22 July 2021 People wade through a flooded street following a heavy rain in Zhengzhou, in China’s Henan province
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 21 July 2021 People celebrate in Brisbane, Australia, following an announcement by the International Olympic Committee that the city was picked to host the 2032 Olympics
AAP Image via AP
World news in pictures 20 July 2021 Muslims attending the Eid Al-Adha prayer at Skenderbej Square in Tirana
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 19 July 2021 Muslim pilgrims gather on Mount Mercy on the plains of Arafat during the annual Haj pilgrimage outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Reuters
World news in pictures 18 July 2021 People protest against the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
World news in pictures 17 July 2021 A long exposure photograph shows Muslim pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand mosque in the holy Saudi city of Mecca during the annual hajj pilgrimage
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 16 July 2021 A van crushed by the torrents is pressed against a tree after the floods caused major damage in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, western Germany
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 15 July 2021 A staff member sits at an interactive digital installation "Fire / Forest and Spiral of Resonating Lamps in the Forest" during a media preview of "teamLab: A Forest Where Gods Live" at the lobby of Mifuneyama Rakuen Hotel, Takeo Hot Springs in Saga prefecture
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 14 July 2021 Pupils of the Special Military School of Saint-Cyr march during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 13 July 2021 Rescuers look for bodies after a catastrophic blaze erupted Monday at a coronavirus hospital ward in the al-Hussein Teaching Hospital, in Nasiriyah, Iraq
AP
World news in pictures 12 July 2021 People try to recover a car damaged during flash floods after heavy monsoon rains in Bhagsunag, a popular tourist town in Himachal Pradesh, India
AP
World news in pictures 11 July 2021 Police cars are seen overturned in the street in the framework of a demonstration against Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 10 July 2021 Tanya and Evance Chanda from Mechanicsville look on as a statue of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson is removed after years of a legal battle over the contentious monument, in Charlottesville, Virginia
Reuters
A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said: “Organisations must use people’s data transparently. This means organisations must be clear, open and honest with people from the start about who they are, and how and why they use their personal data.
“If anyone is concerned about how their data has been handled, they can make a complaint to the ICO and we will look into the details.
“We have received a complaint on this matter and we will be assessing the information provided.”
The Home Office said the On The Move website was being updated, and that pages in Pashto, Dari, Kurdish and Arabic will have information and a link to the UK government website on the homepage.
It is part of wider efforts by the government to discourage asylum seekers who have already reached France and Belgium from continuing their journey to the UK, amid record crossings.
Facebook and Instagram posts linking to the website were pushed out to asylum seekers in the countries in multiple languages as part of a campaign that cost the government ￡23,000 between December and April.
The Home Office said posts linking to On The Move were made from its “clearly-branded” official Facebook and Instagram accounts during the period.
Recommended Woman fighting for life after three injured in ‘incident’ on ride at festival Diners flee ‘terrible’ fire at TV chef Nick Nairn’s restaurant Foreign Office ‘ignored thousands of pleas to help Afghans’
It said personal information was not being collected through the website, or being shared with the Home Office.
A spokesperson added: “We are seeing an unacceptable rise in dangerous and unnecessary small boat crossings. While lives are risk, we make no apology for providing potentially lifesaving information to migrants and highlighting the risk of these deadly journeys.