Published December 12, 2023
Exclusive: Ministry of Defence finally grant Afghan interpreter eligibility to relocate to UK days after he was sent back to Afghanistan
An Afghan interpreter who risked his life serving alongside the British army was deported back to Afghanistan from Pakistan after the UK wrongly refused to grant him sanctuary.
The interpreter was told twice that he would not be able to come to the UK, despite being described by a Ministry of Defence police officer as an “enthusiastic supporter of the UK mission in Afghanistan” and putting his life “in grave danger, almost every day” during his time working in Helmand province for the British.
Now, after a year and a half of limbo, the UK has finally admitted that they made the wrong decision and have approved his application to relocate to Britain. But the decision came five days after he was booted out of Pakistan – where he had fled with his family to escape the fundamentalist regime – and sent back to Afghanistan.
He has since managed to get himself back to Pakistan, without UK government help, and faces another long wait to be transferred to Britain. His wife and children are in the safe third country but the authorities previously threatened to deport them as well, court papers say.
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SOURCE: www.independent.co.uk
RELATED: Elite Afghan troops face return to Taliban after UK ‘betrayal’
Soldiers in the CF333 unit, pictured training with British troops, are now in hiding in Pakistan
Published December 12, 2023
About 200 members of Afghan special forces, trained and funded by the UK, face imminent deportation to their Taliban-controlled homeland, the BBC has learned.
The figures – gathered by a network of Afghan veterans – reveal the scale of what one former UK general calls a “betrayal” and a “disgrace”.
The soldiers fled to Pakistan, which now says it will expel Afghan refugees.
The UK says it has brought thousands of Afghans to safety.
Gen Sir Richard Barrons, who served the British Army in Afghanistan for over 12 years, told BBC Newsnight that the failure of the UK to relocate these soldiers “is a disgrace, because it reflects that either we’re duplicitous as a nation or incompetent”.
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SOURCE: www.bbc.com
RELATED: ‘Abandoned heroes’: Afghan troops face return to Taliban after UK ‘betrayal’
Afghan special unit pictured with British special forces as they worked together
Published December 12, 2023
Approximately 200 members of Afghan special forces, who received training and financial support from the UK, are on the brink of deportation to their Taliban-controlled home country, according to a report by the BBC.
These soldiers, having previously fought against the Taliban, are currently situated in Pakistan, which has declared its intent to expel all Afghan refugees.
Gen Sir Richard Barrons, a veteran of the British Army in Afghanistan spanning 12 years, expressed his disappointment on BBC Newsnight, labeling the UK’s failure to relocate these soldiers as a disgrace.
He asserted that it reflects either duplicity or incompetence on the part of the nation, both of which are deemed unacceptable.
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SOURCE: www.tbsnews.net
RELATED: Britain’s shameful betrayal of its Afghan allies
Soldiers who fought alongside the UK could soon face persecution from the Taliban.
Published December 11, 2023
According to reports, 200 members of Afghan special forces – who were trained by the UK during the 20-year-long war in Afghanistan – now face deportation from Pakistan to their Taliban-controlled homeland.
These elite commandos fled to Pakistan with their families after the Taliban retook Afghanistan in August 2021. The Pakistani government is now threatening to expel them alongside many other Afghan refugees. Some Afghans have already left, while others have submitted legal petitions against the deportations to Pakistan’s supreme court. The soldiers’ fate remains in the balance. Should they be deported to Afghanistan, they face the prospect of persecution or worse at the hands of the Taliban.
The UK should open its doors to these soldiers and their families. But while the government is happy to rehome migrants who have illegally entered the UK on small boats, it seems to be unwilling to help those Afghans who fought side-by-side with the British Army. General Sir Richard Barrons, who served in Afghanistan for 12 years, has labelled the government’s failure to offer shelter to the soldiers a ‘betrayal’ and ‘disgrace’. It’s hard to disagree.
Serving in units such as Commando Force 333 and the Afghan Territorial Force 444, these elite soldiers fought on the frontline of counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan. According to Barrons, they took part in ‘the most dangerous, the most difficult, the most important missions’.
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SOURCE: www.spiked-online.com
