The UK should work with its Nato allies to set up a safe corridor for Afghan refugees, Labour’s Lisa Nandy says.
The shadow foreign secretary wants the government to “step up” efforts to return Britons and eligible Afghans to the UK – even via other countries.
Ms Nandy urged Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to make an “urgent intervention” amid reports hundreds of at-risk Afghans were stranded.
The Foreign Office said it was trying to get people out as fast as possible.
A spokeswoman said the government’s “top priority” was to “do all we can to deliver on our obligations to British nationals and those who have helped us”.
More than 3,000 people, including British nationals and Afghan staff, have been evacuated from the country since Sunday, the Foreign Office said.
There have been chaotic scenes outside Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans have desperately sought to flee and governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens and eligible Afghan colleagues.
The US has warned its citizens to avoid the airport, with continued chaos outside the terminal.
About 4,500 US troops are in temporary control of Hamid Karzai International Airport, with about 900 British soldiers also on patrol at the site as part of efforts to secure the evacuation flights.
Ms Nandy told BBC News she had been told that people have been “beaten, shot at, turned back at checkpoints”.
She added: “The fact that people are being asked to carry documentation that links them to the United Kingdom in order to prove their eligibility but that is the documentation that makes them a target for the Taliban who are checking those documents en route.
“There are no safe corridors to the airport, there are makeshift camps that have sprung up where people are being beaten and even reports of rapes.”
The Labour MP wrote in the letter to Mr Raab: “My office is currently in touch with hundreds of people who cannot reach the Baron Hotel or Hamid Karzai International Airport, have been beaten at checkpoints or turned away – some with young children.”
She said many of those stranded at the airport perimeter were women or girls, asking Mr Raab to consider establishing a military policing operation with Nato allies “just outside the gate, or a processing zone inside”.
Taliban militants have been manning checkpoints around the perimeter of the airport and blocking Afghans without travel documents from entering.
Twelve people have been killed in or around Kabul airport since Sunday, according to a Taliban official quoted by the Reuters news agency.
But even those with valid papers have struggled to get to the airport, with reports that some have been beaten by Taliban guards.
The US embassy in Afghanistan has issued a security alert advising American citizens not to travel to Kabul airport, warning of “potential security threats outside the gates”, while other countries, including Switzerland and Germany, have raised concerns about the situation outside the airport.
Ms Nandy praised those – including military and diplomatic staff – “working around the clock to help people in difficult and dangerous circumstances”. But she said “many, many people” were “in danger of losing their lives”.
The shadow cabinet member requested all MPs receive a briefing on the current state of affairs, complaining that Tory MPs had been given information when opposition representatives had not.
“Why, despite repeated promises to arrange this, haven’t all MPs been offered the same?” she asked.
Another Labour MP, Chris Bryant, said there were many reports of British nationals and families being unable to reach the Foreign Office through its dedicated telephone helpline.
He said calls either go “straight to a voicemail sending people back to the [government] website or nothing at all”.
The Foreign Office said the line for UK nationals to request consular support was working.
Meanwhile, a former Royal Marine who founded an animal welfare charity in Kabul said he was now “in talks” with the Foreign Office about getting his staff out of Afghanistan.
Paul “Pen” Farthing said 68 workers and their families were being processed, so they could “hopefully” come to the UK.
The Foreign Office confirmed it was in contact with Mr Farthing, with a spokeswoman saying it was “working closely with the Home Office to offer assistance”.
Meanwhile, a former Royal Marine who founded an animal welfare charity in Kabul said he was now “in talks” with the Foreign Office about getting his staff out of Afghanistan.
Paul “Pen” Farthing said 68 workers and their families were being processed, so they could “hopefully” come to the UK.
The Foreign Office confirmed it was in contact with Mr Farthing, with a spokeswoman saying it was “working closely with the Home Office to offer assistance”.