Call to reconsider UK relocation bids of Afghan journalists who worked for BBC

Eight journalists had taken legal action against Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

The High Court in London (PA) (PA Archive)

Afghan journalists who worked for the BBC in Afghanistan should have applications to move to the UK reconsidered following a ruling by a High Court judge, lawyers have said.

Eight journalists had taken legal action against Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Suella Braverman after failing in bids to relocate to the UK.

Mr Justice Lane considered evidence at a recent High Court hearing in London and made a ruling in the journalists’ favour on Monday.

He heard that the eight journalists had worked in “high-profile roles for the BBC and other media agencies”.

The decisions by ARAP to reject applications from all eight journalists, who worked for the BBC and other agencies supporting the British military in Afghanistan, were found in a judgment handed down this morning... to have been made on an erroneous basis

Leigh Day spokeswoman

Law firm Leigh Day, which represented the journalists, said a decision to reject applications had been found to have been made on an “erroneous basis”.

A Leigh Day spokeswoman said the journalists should have their applications to move to the UK under the Government’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) reconsidered following the ruling.

“The decisions by ARAP to reject applications from all eight journalists, who worked for the BBC and other agencies supporting the British military in Afghanistan,  were found in a judgment handed down this morning, Monday February 13 2023, to have been made on an erroneous basis,” she said.

“The court found that the ARAP caseworker deciding their applications had erred in confining their decisions to the issue of whether working for the BBC amounted to working for Her Majesty’s Government (HMG), at the expense of considering whether each of the journalists could have been working alongside, in partnership or closely supporting an HMG department.”

Lawyers said the journalists had applied for relocation to the UK under the ARAP, but officials had decided they were not eligible for relocation under that scheme.

The journalists said they had been told that they did not “meet the eligibility criteria” but had not been given “any or adequate reasons” why.

They said their applications under a discretionary policy had also been refused and said that decision was “unreasonable and unfair”.

The Leigh Day spokeswoman added: “The court considered there to be ‘more than a fanciful prospect of a different outcome’ in relation to their eligibility, if not for this error.

“Accordingly, the eight applications are to be reconsidered by the Ministry of Defence ARAP team. New decisions are expected within 21 days.”

She said the journalists worked for the BBC, embedded with military personnel, and worked on projects funded by the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office during the time the British military were stationed in Afghanistan before August 2021.

“They exposed Taliban corruption and abuse, reported in support of the British mission, spoke out critically against the Taliban and promoted media freedom, democracy and human rights,” she said.

“Their work resulted in numerous threats and attacks on their lives by Taliban fighters, another criterion for a successful relocation application.”