Afghan army interpreters given right to settle in UK

Government changes policy after lobbying
campaign and years of legal limbo

One-Minute Read

Under the government’s previous relocation scheme, only
interpreters who served with the British army in Afghanistan’s
Helmand province from 2012 and for at least a year were eligible to
resettle in the UK.

Now, following years of lobbying and legal uncertainty, the
government has announced that around 50 interpreters who served on
the frontline alongside British soldiers as far back as 2006 will
be granted five-year visas to Britain as part of new qualifying
measures. They will also be able to bring their wives and children,
taking the figure to an estimated 200.

The move comes at a time when the British government has faced
“severe criticism for its treatment of immigrants and Afghan
interpreters” reports CNN.

Despite the worsening security situation in Afghanistan, as
recently as April a government policy review insisted it remained a
safe country for Afghans who had assisted the British army during
the nearly two decades-long conflict.

Last month more than 150 interpreters signed a joint letter to
the Home Secretary Sajid Javid saying they’d been told to pay
thousands of pounds in visa application
fees.

The government’s decision to extend the scheme has been hailed
by the Daily Mail as a “huge victory” for the paper’s three-year
Betrayal of the Brave campaign, which revealed how interpreters
left behind in Afghanistan were shot at, issued with death threats
and even executed on their doorsteps.

Writing for the Mail, the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson
praised interpreters as the “unsung heroes” who served with
“dazzling distinction” following the 2001 US-led military
invasion.

He admitted the existing policy “failed to take account of the
immense sacrifice and service of many who had left before that time
[2012]”.

Yet despite welcoming the change in policy, campaigners believe
the proposed changes could help some interpreters who served, “but
would still leave a large number who are being removed at risk”
says CNN.