MPs attack Afghan interpreter scheme over relocation flop
> A GOVERNMENT programme to help former interpreters for British forces in Afghanistan has failed to bring a single one to safety in Britain, a new report has found.
MPs on the Defence Committee gave a scathing assessment of the Intimidation Scheme set up to help civilians at risk of reprisals from the Taliban after working for coalition forces during the UK’s fighting presence in the country.
Committee member and Bridgend Labour MP Madeleine Moon said: “We have a moral duty to care for those Afghan interpreters who risked their lives to help and support British troops. Find anyone who served in Afghanistan and they will tell you how invaluable their work was.
“Their lives and those of their families are now at risk from the Taliban. The Home Office appears more concerned with keeping people out than meeting that debt of honour.”
The MPs said the scheme seemed to go to “considerable lengths” to stop the relocation to the UK of interpreters and other locally employed civilians (LECs) who were threatened and intimidated.
Its failure to bring even a single person to the UK was in marked contrast to a second programme, known as the Redundancy Scheme, which has seen 1,150 Afghans re-homed in Britain.
About half of the approximately 7,000 civilians who worked for the British in Afghanistan were interpreters and they often worked in dangerous situations.
The report stated: “Relocation to the UK has been treated as a matter of last resort.
“Remarkably and regrettably, not one single interpreter (or other LEC) has successfully been relocated to the UK under the Scheme as implemented so far.”
It also criticised the Afghan Government, which was involved in creating the schemes, saying its claim that relocation might lead to a “brain drain” was “disingenuous”.
The committee asks whether the administration is “simply unwilling to admit that the country is too dangerous to guarantee the safety of former interpreters and other LECs.”
Plaid Cymru Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards said: “Local Afghan citizens have put their lives in danger to support our armed forces and their contribution has been pivotal not only to the military effort but also to the peace-building efforts in the region.
“The British Government is indebted to these brave interpreters and for them to respond by refusing to offer meaningful protection is shameful.
“The British Government should act honourably and ensure all those employed by the British Army abroad are offered protection, including, where necessary, the right to settle in the UK.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We recognise the vital role interpreters and local staff played in operations in Afghanistan and we are the only nation with a permanent expert team based in Kabul to investigate intimidation claims.
“Our intimidation policy is designed to ensure that former Afghan local staff are safe to live their lives in the country and we provide tailored security advice and support to individuals.
“We thank the committee for their report, which notes that more than 400 interpreters and local staff have relocated to the UK with their families under another scheme, and we will now review the report and its recommendations.”