Sanctuary hope for Afghan heroes who fought with the SAS
HUnDREDS of Afghan soldiers denied relocation to the UK despite standing ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with British forces on the front line are set to be granted sanctuary in a Government U-turn.
Ministers are expected to announce this week that the cases of at least 400 members of two elite units – known as the Triples – will be reviewed, with the majority likely to be allowed entry to Britain.
Soldiers in Commando Force 333 and Afghan Territorial Force 444 were trained and paid by this country while fighting alongside UK forces, including the SAS, against the Taliban.
Many applied to come here under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) but have either been refused or are awaiting a decision – some for more than a year. The Mail’s award-winning Betrayal of the Brave campaign has highlighted how members of the Triples have been hunted down, beaten and murdered by the Taliban in revenge for working with Britain.
Up to 200 of the soldiers, who fled to neighbouring Pakistan, faced deportation into the arms of the Taliban after Britain failed to offer them a safe place to live.
Last night, the servicemen welcomed the Government’s review but pleaded with the ARAP team to ‘move quickly before more lives are ruined’.
Defence sources stressed it was important not to ‘raise expectations’ because not all who served with the Triples will be eligible for relocation. A 35-year-old soldier, who was initially rejected for relocation but is awaiting the outcome of an appeal, says he has been tortured by the Taliban. He said: ‘Life has been “hell” for those left behind, each day we wonder if it is the last – we survive, we don’t live.
‘Every day of delay is a risk and we are tired of hearing of our friends and their families being attacked. There are too many victims.’
The refusal to allow the men to move here with their families when hundreds of other Afghans are being relocated to the UK has been branded a ‘disgrace’ and a ‘betrayal’ by senior military officers who worked with them. Another said there was ‘a cast-iron and irrefutable’ case for admission.
Many of the soldiers were given character references by British military colleagues, some who did were never contacted by the ARAP team.
In December, the issue appeared to have led to a rift within the Government. Armed Forces minister James Heappey played down the help that could be offered to the Triples, telling MPs that the soldiers were ‘not automatically in scope for relocation’. Mr Heappey defended the Government’s record, explaining ‘how hard’ it was ‘to verify the service of those who just served in the units rather than explicitly alongside UK personnel’.
But veterans minister Johnny Mercer, who has championed the cause of soldiers from the units – with whom he worked with when he served as an officer in Afghanistan – and security minister Tom Tugendhat contended that the Afghan special forces should be given sanctuary in the UK.
It is understood that the Government has now accepted the weight of evidence supporting their relocation and will order a review on a case-bycase basis by the ARAP team.
The evidence is said to include documents long held by the Ministry of Defence that prove the Triples were
paid as well as trained by Britain. Afghan soldiers have told the Mail how they received regular payments from the UK and that they were recorded in ledgers at the time.
Campaigners who have worked for more than three years to prove that the Triples qualify for relocation also say the Government had documents and data which ‘clearly’ showed they had been trained and paid by Britain. The decision to review the cases is a victory for former members of the military, campaigners and MPs.
The Afghan soldiers have paid a high price for supporting UK forces since the Taliban swept into Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and seized control of the country in August 2021.
Within a month, the militants had begun to carry out acts of retribution for their actions. A former CF333 sniper, who had been trained by UK Special Forces, was shot and killed by two Taliban gunmen in front of his family. More abductions and beatings followed as Triples signed up to be included in the ARAP process.
Last August, one of them – an Afghan officer – died in hospital after being beaten by militants. He had been arrested and tortured three times over five weeks.
An MoD spokesman said: ‘We cannot comment on speculation. We are honouring our commitment to those brave Afghans who supported the UK mission in Afghanistan and have been granted settled status.
‘So far, we have brought around 24,600 people to safety from Afghanistan, including over 15,200 people under the ARAP scheme, which is one of the most generous of any country.’
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