23 August 2021. BBC: A person from Afghanistan on the UK’s no-fly watchlist was flown into Birmingham as part of the evacuation of Kabul, government officials confirmed.
The individual, who was identified as being on the watchlist on arrival in the UK, was later not deemed a person of interest after investigation.
The no-fly watchlist is used to stop people coming to the UK who are thought to be a security threat.
The Home Office said the person was flagged in a “rigorous checks process”.
Someone can be placed on the no-fly watchlist due to previous serious criminal conduct as well as terrorism, the BBC’s home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford reported.
He said it was accepted mistakes might happen during processing at Kabul’s airport due to the speed and scale of the evacuation operation.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “An organised exit strategy would have ensured the necessary checks were in place, so this kind of lapse couldn’t happen.”
Afghanistan is on the Covid travel red list, meaning arrivals into England must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days.
The UK is one of a number of Western countries processing people eligible for evacuation out of Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of Kabul.
A team at Kabul airport led by the British ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow is under huge pressure to process as many people as possible ahead of a 31 August deadline.
The Ministry of Defence said 7,109 individuals had been evacuated from Afghanistan on UK flights since 13 August.
Those evacuated include British nationals, diplomatic staff, and Afghans eligible for relocation because they worked for the UK government in frontline roles or are otherwise considered to be at risk under a Taliban administration.
