Daily Mail - 17.08.2019

Page 16 QQQ Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019

BETRAYAL

OF THE

BRAVE HASHMAT Nawabi had been

serving alongside UK troops

in Afghanistan for five years

when he was advised by a

British officer to resign to

spare him and his family from

Taliban threats.

It was because the inter-

preter quit his role – rather

than being made redundant –

that he has not qualified for

sanctuary in Britain under the

new policy announced by

Gavin Williamson last year.

Speaking from the war-rav-

aged country, Mr Nawabi, 33,

said: ‘Living in Afghanistan with

no hope or future is worse

than being tortured. We never

know what is happening

tomorrow. We don’t even

know when we go out if we

will come back alive or not.’

The father of one, started

work with the British in July

2007 and resigned in August

2012 after being told to because

of soaring intimidation from

the Taliban, which had identi-

fied him as a spy for UK forces.

He said he was advised by

the British to quit because of

the risk to his family and move

away from Helmand. He was

given £14,000 to relocate his

family to northern Afghani-

stan but they were ‘outed’ as

the family of an interpreter.

By Larisa Brown

and David Williams

Just 2 Afghan translators

offered sanctuary in UK

Mr Nawabi, his face obscured

for his safety, with UK troops

process of coming. The disclosure

emerged after officials spent months

wading through files, only to dis-

cover that there were just a couple

of interpreters who would qualify.

Last night translators accused the

Government of ‘betrayal’ and ‘bro-

ken promises’ after finding out that

they did not qualify under the nar-

row guidelines.

An MoD source said new Defence

Secretary Ben Wallace was ‘taking a

close look at this issue and is keen

to ensure that those who helped us

in Afghanistan are treated fairly’.

Dozens who risked their lives

beside British forces said their

cases had been rejected by UK offi-

cials in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

Mayar, an interpreter who was

rejected, said: ‘It is cruel because we

were given false hope by the decla-

ration that 50 of us would be allowed

to the UK. Once again we have seen

promises broken and dreams shat-

tered. Where are the 50?’

He accused the Government of

‘again letting down interpreters and

families who risked everything for

the British’. The Mail’s award-win-

ning three-year Betrayal of the

Even new

rules kept

out a hero

said. An MoD spokesman said: ‘We

are committed to ensuring that

those Afghan interpreters who are

eligible for relocation are offered

the opportunity to do so. We encour-

age anyone who experiences intimi-

dation because of their employment

by the UK to contact our Intimida-

tion Investigation Unit.’

Number promised safe haven is

slashed from 50 after MoD bungle

AFGHAN interpreters reacted

with fury last night when it

emerged that only two of them will

be given sanctuary under a

new policy after officials

got their figures wrong.
Gavin Williamson announced
in June last year, when he was
Defence Secretary, that 50

interpreters and close family

would be allowed into the UK

as he ripped up old rules.

But an investigation by the Daily

Mail has found that policy officials

in the Ministry of Defence overes-

timated the figure and just two

meet the new criteria. Only one of

those, plus his family members, is

in Britain. The second is in the

Brave campaign has highlighted

the cases of dozens of former and

current translators who believe

they have been ‘abandoned’ to the

Taliban by the British. Some inter-

preters have been murdered.

Under the previous relocation

scheme, interpreters had to be serv-

ing on an arbitrary date in Decem-

ber 2012 to qualify for sanctuary.

They also had to have served in Hel-

mand – the scene of some of the

fiercest fighting – for at least a year.

Mr Williamson widened the quali-

fying period to include those who

spent at least a year with British

forces as far back as 2006.

But the policy only includes inter-

preters who were made redundant

• not those who were forced to quit
  because of death threats or who
  were on contracts that ran out.
  It is understood Mr Williamson
  was about to push through another
  policy change to expand the criteria
  when he was sacked by Theresa
  May in May. Under this, interpret-
  ers would also have been allowed in
  if they had quit or were on short-
  term contracts.
  Sources said this would have
  allowed 70 to come to Britain.
  Mayar, 36, worked for three years
  for UK forces and believed he would
  qualify under the change of policy
  because of repeated Taliban threats.
  But he said: ‘My case was dismissed
  and I was told that despite the obvi-
  ous danger I did not qualify... they
  said my case was “closed”.’
  He had survived Taliban bullets
  after driving into an ambush.
  Niz, 31, the only translator to have
  come to the UK with his family
  under the change of policy, said that
  while he was ‘very grateful’ to the
  British many of his ex-colleagues
  should qualify too.
  ‘There are many genuine cases
  where people’s lives are at risk and
  to delay only increases that risk,’ he