On Friday 27 August 2021, the News Shopper reported that Bromley Council "will support a limited number of Afghan refugees if the Government requests us to do so." Bromley's commitment of 'support' falls short of the commitment made by several other London Boroughs (including Richmond, Camden, Ealing, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kingston, Lambeth, Islington and Lewisham), all of which have explicitly committed to rehoming Afghan refugees.

In fact, it is currently not even possible for Bromley residents to use the gov.uk webpage which exists to enable UK residents to offer support to refugees in their local area - because Bromley is not listed on that webpage, even though several other London Boroughs are.

The same News Shopper article notes that Bromley Council did not take in any of the 1,109 Syrian refugees rehomed in London as part of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, whereas Lewisham Council welcomed 33 Syrian families and Greenwich took in 19 families.

Write to your MP, ward councillors and Cllr Colin Smith, and let's make sure Bromley Council know that we want them to walk the walk not just talk the talk on supporting Afghan refugees (click here to look up the email addresses of your representatives).

If you can, book a seat in the public gallery at the next Bromley Council Executive Committee meeting (using the form on this webpage) to let Bromley Council's Leader Colin Smith know how strongly you feel about this.