The lucky ones who DID make it to Britain: Donations flood in as up to 2,000 Afghan refugees arrive in UK - but majority are still in hotel accommodation
Donations have poured in to local organisations in recent days as reported figures suggest almost 2,000 Afghan refugees have arrived in the country following the fall of Kabul.
Charities in Birmingham and Scarborough have shared pictures of thousands of pieces of clothing, toys and toiletries that were provided by generous locals wanting to aid those fleeing persecution in Afghanistan.
The Bushey United Synagogue in Hertfordshire also received supplies for newly arrived Afghan families to the area after a Facebook request was met with 'a tremendous act of love' from the local community.
Many of these organisations posted appeals online and were left stunned by the thousands of bags of items that quickly flooded in.
MailOnline understands that there are approximately 2,000 Afghan refugees already being housed in temporary emergency accommodation - mainly in hotels - across the UK.
Manchester is currently home to approximately 1,000 displaced Afghans, while West and North Yorkshire, Hertfordshire and a handful of other counties are housing hundreds of refugees.
The Home Office did not provide any specific information on the hotel procurement procedure or how refugees are divided across the country when asked by MailOnline.
MailOnline understands that there are approximately 2,000 Afghan refugees already being housed in temporary emergency accommodation - mainly in hotels - across the UK
Hundreds of items have been donated to the Bushey United Synagogue in Hertfordshire to help newly arrived Afghan families
Volunteers are now sorting the toiletries, toys and clothes that have been left behind after a Facebook request was shared thousands of times
Hotels across Britain have flung open their doors for arriving Afghans as they flee the clutches of the Taliban in their homeland.
Rooms in Kent, West Yorkshire, Hertfordshire, Warwickshire and more have been prepared as refugees continue to fly into airports including Birmingham and RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
Two hotels in Huddersfield said they would take in the refugees when they get here. Cedar Court Hotel and the Old Golf Hotel are reportedly being set up as temporary accommodation for Afghans.
Managing Director Wayne Topley of Cedar Court Hotels said the site would help those who assisted the British Army in operations over the last decade.
He told Examiner Live: 'We have offered our services to the Home Office and we would love to help those who have helped our forces. Anything we can do to facilitate their transport will be done.'
Rabbi Elchonon Feldman, of the Bushey United Synagogue, said within three days they had received approximately 3,000 bags of items
29 prams were also sent to the Synagogue in Hertfordshire after the Facebook appeal
Families fleeing Afghanistan have already been rehomed in West Yorkshire, Portsmouth, Hampshire, Surrey and Melton in Leicestershire, as more than 100 local councils pledged to provide accommodation if needed.
Council leaders and mayors in Liverpool, London, Kent and Essex have all shared strong statements promising to provide support in their communities in the wake of the Taliban's devastating advance to Kabul.
The news comes as charitable organisations across the country were overwhelmed by kind-hearted Brits who came forward to provide for desperate displaced families.
Rabbi Elchonon Feldman, of the Bushey United Synagogue in Hertfordshire, sent a message to worshippers on a private Facebook page on Thursday night and then saw the donations pack out the venue's car park by Sunday lunchtime.
The rabbi had been contacted by Laurence Brass, the councillor for Bushey North, who said that some Afghan families had been placed in the local area and needed items including warm clothing, toiletries, toys and basic school supplies.
A civilian charter flight arriving at a Midlands airport from Kabul. The flight carried eligible Afghans under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy Programme and British Nationals who were based in Afghanistan
How will the new resettlement scheme work and who will get priority?
The resettlement programme is a new initiative to help Afghans forced to flee their country as refugees.
It is separate from the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy , which grants haven to former interpreters and others who helped Western forces over the past 20 years.
The two schemes are explained below:
Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy:
This is available to any current or former locally-employed staff who worked for the British forces who are assessed to be at a 'serious risk' of being killed.
Successful applicants will be offered priority entry into the UK regardless of their employment status, rank or role, or length of time served.
Local staff who work or worked in the public eye and who could be at risk as the security situation evolves will be relocated to the UK on a routine basis, and those not eligible to move will be offered other support such as security advice and relocation within Afghanistan.
Some 10,000 former Afghan staff and their family members are expected to be relocated to the UK under ARAP.
Afghan citizens' resettlement scheme:
The government is aiming for the new Afghanistan citizens' resettlement scheme to resettle 5,000 Afghan nationals who are at risk due to the current crisis in its first year, and a total of 20,000 in the long term.
Priority will be given to women and girls, and religious and other minorities. There will be a particular focus on whether people are at risk of human rights abuses and dehumanising treatment by the Taliban. The UK can reject cases on 'security, war crimes or other grounds'.
The initiative will be modelled on the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme which launched in 2014 in conjunction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The UNHCR identifies potential cases for the UK to consider and applicants are then vetted by British officials.
The government has insisted that the new route will not compromise on national security and any person arriving on the route will have to pass the same strict security checks as those resettled through other schemes.
Rabbi Feldman explained: 'My response was, 'I am absolutely sure we can help although I am not sure we can look after all of their requirements, but we can certainly try.'
'It went crazy. People copied the message. They forwarded it around and by the time Sunday arrived we had around 3,000 bags (of items) that had been brought to help out.'
He added: 'It has been a tremendous act of love and completely run by volunteers who all just wanted to help. They are not just Jewish. The message ended up going far and wide and everyone just wanted to make a difference.'
Volunteers are now working through the donations to see where best to place the items for the Afghan families - and anything left over will go to other charities, the rabbi said.
Other charities are still appealing for further help.
Katie Wilson, who runs Carriers of Hope's clothing scheme in Warwickshire, told the BBC the group was supporting more than 115 refugees living in hotels in Coventry.
'There are over 115 people living the hotel, most of them arrived without even a change of clothes, many of them were in flip flops or barefoot,' she said.
'They just absolutely need everything... and we just can't keep on top of the demand.
'It breaks your heart, I must have helped 100 men with clothes the other day, but the ones you remember are the ones crying by your car saying they have nothing and you feel like you have failed because you can't help everyone.'
Meanwhile, the founder of a 15-year-old refugee centre in Walsall, West Midlands, explained how he has been 'inundated' with requests for help from those fleeing Kabul.
Fahim Zazai, of Walsall's Afghan Community and Welfare Centre, told Birmingham Live he is lobbying the Government to confirm the status of Afghan refugees already in Britain as he receives hundreds of missed calls from worried relatives in Afghanistan.
'Some are very anxious, desperate, they want to know what they need to do, they just want to leave,' he explained.
It comes are more than 100 local authorities in England and Wales backed plans to rehome displaced Afghans in the wake of the Taliban recapturing Kabul earlier this month.
Local authorities have been asked to support efforts to relocate approximately 3,000 displaced Afghans in the coming weeks.
Downing Street has already received more than 2,000 accommodation promises from 104 councils, the Times reports.
Reported figures suggest almost 2,000 Afghan refugees have already been placed into temporary isolation hotels or 'emergency accommodation' across the country.
Women, girls and those facing persecution will get priority as some 20,000 are granted the right to live in the UK – with 5,000 expected in the first year.
That figure incudes approximately 1,000 people in Manchester - including 64 in Congleton, Cheshire.
Best Western has opened the doors to Abbots Barton Hotel in Canterbury for more than 100 Afghan refugees
Cedar Court Hotel in Huddersfield is reportedly being set up as temporary accommodation for Afghans
The popular Abbots Barton Hotel in Canterbury, which is part of the Best Western brand, is working alongside the Home Office to house 106 refugees, reports Kent Online, as a further 43 asylum seekers are expected to be housed in Hythe, Kent.
Meanwhile, 115 displaced Afghans have been placed in temporary hotel accommodation in Coventry, as have 100 more in Milton Keynes, Bucks per reports.
A Home Office spokesperson said: 'It is important that the Government fully work through the operational and delivery processes of the scheme, given the current complex picture in Afghanistan.
'Further details will be released in due course.'
More than 2,000 former Afghan staff, including translators and their families, have already resettled in the UK since June, according to Sky News.
Afghans allowed to come to the UK will be distributed across the country, the Government indicated last week.
A spokesman said it would work with the devolved administrations and local councils to make sure Afghans get help to rebuild their lives.
The Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme will focus on women and girls who fear their rights will be trampled under the 'Islamic Emirate' declared by the Taliban
Afghans allowed to come to the UK will be distributed across the country. Pictured: British nationals and Afghan evacuees arrive on a flight from Afghanistan at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
Local authorities have been asked to support efforts to relocate approximately 3,000 displaced Afghans in the coming weeks
The new Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme will focus on women and girls who fear their rights will be trampled under the 'Islamic Emirate' declared by the Taliban.
It will also offer help to those forced to flee their homes and to religious minorities in the country. They will be given the right to stay in the UK permanently.
Mr Johnson said: 'We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have worked with us to make Afghanistan a better place over the last 20 years. Many of them, particularly women, are now in urgent need of our help.
'I am proud that the UK has been able to put in place this route to help them and their families live safely in the UK.'
But the PM stressed he wanted to share responsibility with other nations to prevent a 'humanitarian emergency' in Afghanistan.
'The best solution for everyone is an Afghanistan that works for all Afghans. That means the international community coming together to set firm, political conditions for the country's future governance.'
Home Secretary Priti Patel said the scheme would allow the 'most vulnerable' Afghans to 'start a new life in safety in the UK, away from the tyranny and oppression they now face'.
'We will not abandon people who have been forced to flee their homes and are now living in terror of what might come next,' she added.