Ex-translators for Germany fear reprisals
KABUL — Sometimes the calls come in the middle of the night. Other times it’s a text message sent to a mobile phone. But the warnings are always the same, threats of death for having worked with the German military in northern Afghanistan.
“I might be the next victim,” said a frightened 22-year-old Zamir Ahmadi, who interpreted for the German military for two years in northeastern Afghanistan until May 2013.
“I have been threatened with death because I worked with German advisers who were training the Afghan Security Forces,” he said .
Ahmadi and others who worked for Germany in Afghanistan fear for their lives and have applied for special immigration visas to move to Germany. But they face a slow bureaucratic march toward getting visas, like others who worked for foreign forces in the U.S.-led international coalition in Afghanistan.
Particularly frightening for Ahmadi was the mention of his name by a Muslim cleric who shouted that he was a traitor to Islam before the start of prayers in a local mosque where the Taliban have influence. The cleric railed against Ahmadi as a spy and called on the faithful to kill him, Ahmadi said. Ahmadi applied for a visa shortly after he left his job.
About 1,500 Afghans have worked for Germany during the time its personnel have been present in Afghanistan, including drivers, translators and others, according to figures provided this week by the German Interior Ministry.
As of March 3, 2013, Germany had processed 596 cases of local Afghan staffers and their families wanting to come to Germany. A total of 265 thus far have received permission to immigrate, and 59 local staffers along with 115 family members have so far arrived in Germany.
The U.S. so far has issued 2,230 Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans who have worked for the American government, out of 7,500 that were available from 2009 to 2013. Some domestic critics have said America is not doing enough for those who helped it during the nearly 13-year war.