Thread by @ACEurope

LIVE | @RoryStewartUK is joined by @ratnaomi and @Orzala, with @b_judah to discuss his report on the Afghan refugee crisis. twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

@RoryStewartUK "We now have an opportunity for the US and its allies to step up... to recover moral leadership... and demonstrate... that the burden [of refugee resettlement] can be shared."

@Orzala "What needs to be done? ...for those leaving [Afghanistan]... acceptance [overseas with a quota system] is essential..." She added that food aid and other humanitarian aid is only a temporary solution, and that developmental aid must include job creation opportunities.

@ratnaomi "The refugee numbers that were pledged [by Obama] were encouraging... if we have done this before, we can do this again. From that point of view, I welcome @RoryStewartUK's impetus for this conversation."

@ratnaomi "[Canada has] developed special refugee status for [Afghan] journalists and human rights defenders... former veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces are at the forefront of [demanding the continued evacuation of Afghans at risk]."

@RoryStewartUK "The UK is very much not doing enough. By comparison... to Canada... and the United States... Britain has committed to take 20,000 vulnerable Afghans, but has not brought this scheme to fruition."

@RoryStewartUK The lesson from the mid-2010s refugee crisis is that imposing a resettlement quota will face resistance and will eventually cause the whole resettlement system to collapse.

@Orzala "Afghanistan is... no longer [the same country as it was] in 2000... This is a very critical phase... If the current ruling regime, the Taliban, doesn't have the capacity to protect these high-risk people, we should be welcoming [them]... for asylum purposes."

@RoryStewartUK "There are a very strong group of people who object to any form of border control. I don't think that's a very realistic position for domestic voters... it makes sense to set ambitious targets to get countries to think about numbers they can accept."

@RoryStewartUK @RoryStewartUK "Remember that Nazi Germany allowed Jews to leave in earlier periods. That doesn't mean they weren't at risk at persecution... We can't assume that just because [the Taliban may let at-risk people] leave now, they may not do so [for much longer]."

@ratnaomi "The sponsorship program [of Canada] has been replicated [in the United Kingdom and United States]... It's not that difficult to plug in [Afghans] into existing [privately-sponsored resettlement programs].

@ratnaomi @RoryStewartUK "Many Afghans are still stuck in [legal] limbo. I have many friends stuck in the US military base in Doha."

@Orzala "I appreciate the idea of community sponsorships. This is really important for the social integration of Afghans arriving [abroad]... A more community-oriented [response] would put less of a burden on the government [for resettlement]."

@Orzala @Orzala "To address the hunger part, any individual [from across the world] can sponsor a... family back in [Afghanistan]... What the world doesn't want is a flood of economic migration. An individual contribution to reduce economic migration is also important."

@Orzala @RoryStewartUK "We are facing a crisis of legitimacy from the West..." he added that a refugee resettlement coalition would rebuild trust between transatlantic states and people outside the transatlantic community.

@RoryStewartUK "It is certainly true that there are many wealthy countries like Japan, China, many Middle Eastern countries, that could at least make a financial contribution [to resettlement]."