Tri-Service

Pressure Mounts For Government Action Over Afghan Interpreters

Nearly 170,000 people have now signed an online petition calling on the Prime Minister to “Protect ALL Afghan interpreters who served with British troops”.

While British troops were able to (mostly) leave Afghanistan last October hundreds of interpreters, who wore the same uniform and in some cases faced the same battles, were not able to come to the UK.

While the government says it’s got strong plans in place to protect them the chorus of calls saying it’s not enough is getting louder.

According to the Ministry of Defence, 150 have settled here, with their families, as part of its redundancy scheme. For those not eligible through that programme it has a separate ‘intimidation scheme’. British investigators are in Afghanistan offering security advice and support, and help with relocation.

In theory this scheme could allow someone to come to the UK, but the MoD says that hasn’t been judged necessary for any of the 200 people it’s helped there. Decisions it says have been checked and approved by an independent barrister.

Yet lawyers in Britain say they’re getting several calls a week from interpreters facing threats, among them a man called Shaffy photographed alongside David Cameron as he visited Afghanistan. Worse may already have happened, last month Afghan interpreter Parwiz Khan is reported to have been shot dead by the Taliban.

Clearly there are many people who think the government is not doing enough. Among them former head of the army, Lord Dannatt, who has warned Britain would have blood on its hands if an interpreter who was refused asylum were to be killed by the Taliban.

The online petition now almost guarantees a debate in Parliament about this in the coming weeks, because it’s got more than 100,000 backers.

A strong show of support from MPs wouldn’t force the government to do anything. But it could send a signal that the Prime Minister himself would find hard to ignore.

The father of a Royal Marine killed in Afghanistan says Afghan interpreters must be given asylum in the UK.

Ian Wright's son Gary died in 2006 after a suicide bomb attack in Lashkar Gah. At the time his interpreter desperately tried to save his life.

Ali Gibson spoke to Ian and asked him about his son.