CEREDIGION's Ben Lake and his fellow Plaid Cymru MPs have urged the UK Government and international community "not to turn a blind eye” as the Afghanistan crisis escalates.

Parliament is being recalled from its summer recess on Wednesday to debate the situation, after the Taliban swept across the country in just 10 days, taking control of towns and cities before seizing the capital Kabul.

In a joint statement, Plaid Cymru MPs Liz Saville Roberts, Hywel Williams and Ben Lake said: “After twenty years, over a quarter of a million civilians lives lost, thousands displaced, 457 British soldiers dead – with many more at home suffering from both mental and physical injuries because of this bitter war - the world looks on in horror at the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Afghanistan.

"The implications for Afghanistan’s civilians will be horrific – not least for women and girls who, according to reports, are already being denied access to education, work, basic freedoms, and civil rights with brutal and draconian restrictions being placed upon them.

“The UK Government has a responsibility to provide refuge to all the Afghan people who served alongside British forces who are now at risk of being targeted by the Taliban, including interpreters, Afghans trained as special forces, and those people who set up schools for girls and helped NGOs.

"They must also urgently arrange visas for those 35 Afghans who are due to start scholarships at UK universities within weeks but have now been told their places have been suspended because their visas cannot be arranged in time.

“We urge the UK Government and the international community not to turn a blind eye and to stand by their obligations and press any future Afghan government to protect and sustain progressive gains made in justice and education.

The UK Government is looking at a "bespoke arrangement" for Afghan refugees, with full details to be set out in due course, the foreign secretary Dominic Raab has said.

A new resettlement scheme will be aimed at helping those most in need - including women and girls - to come to the UK, No 10 has said.

Dominic Raab did not confirm how many refugees would be able to come but said the UK was "a big-hearted nation that has provided safe haven for those fleeing persecution".

However he added: "The most important thing we can do at source... is try and provide the stability, so we don't see these large numbers of migrant flows.

"So I think that ought to be the number one priority, but nonetheless asylum is really important."

Mr Raab said details of the new resettlement scheme would be set out by the home secretary and prime minister "in due course".

Around 20,000 refugees who fled the conflict in Syria have been resettled in the UK under the scheme since it was launched in 2014.

On Monday evening, the Home Office said the UK had already admitted more than 3,300 Afghan interpreters, staff and their families to the UK for resettlement.