Ministers are putting endangered British Council staff and their families in Afghanistan at risk because of a “blockage of red tape” preventing them from coming to the UK, a cross-party group of dozens of MPs and peers says. John Baron, a senior Conservative backbencher, pioneered the cross-party call for the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, to ensure the country repays the “debt of gratitude and honour” he believed was owed to the roughly 200 people and their immediate relatives. Many former British Council workers are said to have been in hiding since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021, being forced to move between safe houses and unable to seek medical help. On top of a scheme to help relocate Afghan citizens who worked for the British government, known as the Afghan relocations and assistance policy, a separate route out was set up earlier this year to help those who assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for values including democracy, women’s rights and freedom of speech. Known as the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme (ACRS), it was set up on 6 January 2022. However, Baron said “not a single contractor has been assisted out of Afghanistan via this scheme”. In a letter signed by more than two dozen MPs and peers, seen by the Guardian, Cleverly was told that the same was “almost certainly true” of the GardaWorld contractors who offered protection to the British embassy in Kabul, and alumni of the Chevening scholarship. About 90 contractors were said to have been contacted in September and told their applications were successful, pending security checks. But the MPs and peers said no word had been heard since – and at least half of the contractors had still not had any contact at all. “Until this blockage of red tape is solved, the contractors and their families will remain in danger,” they wrote. “No one questions that security checks are necessary, but they must be urgently completed so that the work of getting the contractors, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude and honour, can begin the active work of leaving Afghanistan and travelling to the UK.” A government spokesperson said: “We have brought around 23,000 people to safety, including over 6,300 vulnerable Afghan nationals through the first pathway of the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, and a further 1,500 eligible people are due to be offered resettlement places under pathway 3. “Supporting the resettlement of eligible Afghans remains a top priority and we continue to work with like-minded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan to support their safe passage.” Up to 1,500 people are meant to be able to be relocated to the UK through ACRS. However, it is understood that 11,400 people tried to sign up, including a significant number who the Foreign Office believe do not meet the eligibility criteria. Those who are eligible will be informed as soon as possible, but the security checks vary on a case-by-case basis and the government is mindful of ensuring border safety is not compromised.