Blame lies with Afghan army’s capitulation

IS there any doubt that interpreters and others closely associated with helping our forces should be given priority over many others in Afghanistan, regarding being granted asylum by countries who have benefited from their services?

These people are at serious risk from the Taliban regardless of their pledge not to go in for reprisals.

We only have to look at the treatment meted out to collaborators in France and other European countries by the Resistance after the fall of the Germans in WW2 to back this up.

Some of these same interpreters have been applying for asylum for years but have consistently been turned down by the Foreign Office because their case ‘wasn’t strong enough’ to warrant safe haven here but at the same time they are admitting thousands of illegal immigrants, among them many able-bodied young Afghans who have deserted their native land whilst our armed forces have been killed and maimed fighting for their own freedom.

We can only hope these genuine asylum-seeking interpreters will be granted the asylum-seeking status we owe them, and they will be allowed to find employment and make a contribution to this country, unlike many other illegal boat people who are costing the taxpayers a fortune in benefits, which the poorer indigenous people of this country can only dream of.

But that’s where it must stop! We are in no position to accommodate the thousands of Afghans who just want to escape the Taliban. Many of them, and I include many people in this country, are blaming the Americans and ourselves for their demise for pulling out.

However, if we were there for another 20 years it would have made no difference. The blame lays squarely with the Afghan army and government who meekly capitulated overnight to the Taliban having squandered billions of our money in the process of trying to make them safe.

Edward Kynaston Lydney, Glos