Daily Mail

Heartache of the translator told that wife and sons can’t join him in UK

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AN AFGHAN interprete­r granted sanctuary in Britain told last night of his despair at being separated from his wife and two young sons.

Abdul Wakil, 32, came to the UK in December 2015 with eldest son Shakeel, 12, under a Ministry of Defence relocation scheme.

Mr Wakil, who risked his life working with the Army for three years in Helmand Province, said he was told by the Government that the rest of his family could join him later.

However, after arriving he was told that his wife – who gave birth to their third son the day he left Afghanista­n – would only have qualified under the scheme if she had flown with him. He has now spent more than two years bringing up Shakeel alone, and has met his youngest son only once.

His family’s plight is the latest example highlighte­d by the Daily Mail’s Betrayal of the Brave campaign, which has exposed countless scandals in which Afghan interprete­rs who put themselves in danger to help UK troops have been abandoned.

Speaking from his home in Manchester after finishing a tenhour night shift working for an online retailer, Mr Wakil said: ‘ The British told me, “Your wife can join you any time.”

‘ Now they are saying they had to come with me. I have only seen Muzzammel once and it makes me so sad and unhappy. We are suffering together. I’m really worried about my family.’

He added that he had to take Shakeel to see a psychologi­st because he was so miserable in Britain. ‘ My son was struggling,’ he said. ‘ He told one of his [ classmates] that he was going to harm himself because missing his mum.’

Mr Wakil’s wife, who does not want to be named, lives with the couple’s other sons Mustafa, five, and Muzzammel, two, in the warravaged Afghan capital Kabul, he’s which is frequently targeted by suicide bombers.

Mr Wakil said he and Shakeel cannot go back to Afghanista­n as he would be targeted by the Taliban because of his work with the British.

He planned to bring the rest of his family to the UK once he had a secure job and home, and said British officials in Kabul told him this would be fine.

He also said he was told he was coming to the UK permanentl­y – but instead he was given only a five- year visa, which he has to apply for and pay to renew.

Mr Wakil said his wife is uneducated and cannot speak English, so will not pass the language tests required to come to Britain under normal rules.

However, he added: ‘ I will not give up fighting. I can give Shakeel love as a father but I cannot give him a mother’s love.’

The Mail revealed last week that interprete­rs resettled in the UK faced being kicked out as soon as next year unless they paid £ 2,400 in fees. Following the Mail’s revelation­s, Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced that he would waive the charges, and pledged to review whether translator­s’ wives and children should be allowed into Britain.

Mr Wakil said: ‘ It feels like we have won the lottery. This is because of the Daily Mail’s support and we are very grateful. Without these changes families would have had no choice but to leave this country because they could not afford the fees.’

A spokesman for the Home Office said it was committed to looking again at what could be done to make the process easier for Afghan interprete­rs to bring family members to the UK.

 ??  ?? Still in Kabul: Mustafa, five, and Muzzammel, two
Still in Kabul: Mustafa, five, and Muzzammel, two
 ?? By Larisa Brown Defence and Security Editor ?? Years of agony: Abdul Wakil
By Larisa Brown Defence and Security Editor Years of agony: Abdul Wakil

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