British army Afghan staff with Taliban targets on their backs are denied sanctuary

Afghans who worked for the British army are being denied sanctuary in the UK despite being at risk of execution by the Taliban, an Independent investigation has found

- HOLLY BANCROFT

Mechanics, labourers and chefs are among those who have been rejected by the Ministry of Defence’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme, set up for those who helped British forces during the war.

They live in fear for their lives and, despite the threat of persecution by the Taliban because of their work for the British army’s Labour Support Unit, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) argues they do not qualify for the scheme because they were not in frontline roles. Colleagues and family members say these Afghans are at particular risk of reprisal attacks by local Taliban because they were recruited locally.

The latest refusals come as The Independent is campaigning for Afghans who worked alongside British armed forces to be given safe haven in the UK, after we revealed that an Afghan air force veteran in the UK was threatened with removal to Rwanda.

One MP said the government’s treatment of Afghan citizens who worked with British forces was a “catalogue of continued failure”, while charities called on the MoD to grant them refuge, saying they were “crucial to the UK’s mission”.

Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, chair of the defence select committee, said Afghan workers were still being hunted by the Taliban and warned the terrorists do not “share the same criteria” as the UK government’s decision-makers.

Some Afghan British army workers, who fled to the UK, have compiled a list of 44 staff who have been denied help, and their plight was raised with armed forces minister James Heappey in April by Labour MP Jessica Morden. Mr Heappey responded, saying there were no plans to widen the Arap criteria, which he said “is already more generous than previous Afghan relocation schemes”.