Tri-Service

Afghan Interpreters Take Legal Action Against British Government

Two Afghan interpreters who risked their lives working for the British military in Afghanistan are taking legal action over a Government assistance scheme they say unlawfully discriminates against them.

The men, who are regarded by the Taliban as "infidel spies", are seeking judicial review at London's High Court.

One of the claimaints, Mohammed Rafi Hottak, a father of three who fled Afghanistan in 2011 after receiving death threats, has expressed his "disappointment" at having to take legal action. He said:

"I risked bombs and bullets working for them. The people who I considered as friends and family, they are fighting me for my rights and the rights of my friends in Afghanistan."

The men's lawyers argue the scheme is unfair and unlawful because, with certain exceptions, assistance is not available to staff who left British employment before December 2012.

They contend they are being discriminated against and treated differently to Iraqi interpreters who were given assistance when their lives became endangered through assisting the British in the Iraq war.

Cover Photo Crown Copyright/ Cpl Mike Fletcher/ 2006