More than half of Afghans left behind after working with UK forces still trapped and ‘fearing for their lives’

Exclusive: Warnings thousands of eligible Afghans still trapped as ex-interpreters say they ‘will be killed’

UK ministers have been accused of trying to ‘move on’ from commitments made to interpreters and other local staff who assisted British efforts in Afghanistan (AFP via Getty Images)

More than half of Afghans who were left behind after being promised sanctuary in the UK for working with British forces are still stuck in the country four months on, with many living in fear for their lives, it has emerged.

UK ministers have been accused of trying to “move on” from commitments they made to relocate interpreters and other local staff who assisted British efforts in Afghanistan before the government and military fell to the Taliban in August.

Thousands of Afghans are said to be living in fear of death in the country despite being eligible for resettlement in the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme – set up to transfer those who helped the British military to safety in Britain. Former interpreters have told The Independent they are in hiding with their families because the Taliban is “searching” for them.

It comes after western states acknowledged earlier this month that the Taliban had been carrying out targeted killings of former members of Afghan security forces. Last month, a report by Human Rights Watch documented, in just one investigation, more than 100 killings of ex-government and military officials.

While hundreds of former UK staff and their family members were transferred to Britain during the UK’s mass evacuation of Kabul in August – known as Operation Pitting – it later emerged that 311 had been left behind. In September, Boris Johnson said the government would “do absolutely everything” it could to “ensure that those people get the safe passage that they deserve”.

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has now confirmed in a parliamentary written question response that, of the 311, more than half (167) remain trapped in Afghanistan, with 99 now in the UK and 45 in third countries.

Refugees Welcome

The Independent has backed calls for ministers to be more ambitious in its plan to resettle Afghans. Our Refugees Welcome campaign is calling for the government to offer sanctuary to as many people as possible.

Former defence minister Johnny Mercer told The Independent the true number of Afghans eligible under the ARAP scheme who are still trapped in the country would be considerably higher.

“We have left thousands behind, not 167. Those are simply the ones who had a response to the ARAP programme. Those figures are simply the number who were called forward but didn’t make it to the airport,” he said.

“The point is the ARAP programme was so ineffective the thousands of people who we should’ve rescued didn’t even get a response from them, and consequently we have left the vast majority of people that we owed extraction to behind. Many are now fearing for their lives. All the ministers know this, but they are determined to move on from our commitments to these people.”

One former interpreter, who worked for British troops in Helmand province for 14 months, told The Independent his ARAP application had been accepted but he was being told by the UK government to travel to Pakistan, which he is unable to do because his family do not have passports.

The 26-year-old, who has a wife and two children, aged five and six, said: “We’re staying with relatives in Helmand. There is high risk. It’s very dangerous here. Every day we’re threatened by the Taliban. They’re searching for us. We’re hiding. We’re not going out. It’s a bad situation.

“I don’t know why the ARAP team is working so slowly. Why are they not paying attention to us? We are eligible, we are waiting. There is no good chance of life. It is clear that our life is danger. We will die, we will be killed.”

A former Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office official disclosed earlier this month that chaos, failure to allocate resources, fatal delays at critical times and a lack of communication in Whitehall severely damaged the British government’s Afghan evacuation operation.

Tens of thousands of pleas for help from those under threat went unanswered in a system incapable of handling the situation, while some of those who were abandoned were subsequently murdered by the Taliban and other Islamist groups, the whistleblower, Raphael Marshall, said.

Dr Sara de Jong, political scientist and co-founder of the Sulha Alliance, which advocates on behalf of Afghan interpreters, told The Independent the figure provided by Mr Cleverly should be taken with “a pinch of salt”, as the government only counts those who were called forward to the airport for evacuation, but couldn’t make it out on time, and not the “many others” whose applications are or were still in process.

She said the organisation was currently tracking hundreds of people who are awaiting relocation to the UK under the ARAP scheme, adding: “Not all applicants will find their way to the Sulha Alliance, so we only see the tip of the iceberg.

“Many of the people we are in contact with are in hiding and have left their homes. They have little means to sustain themselves. If they do not already have a passport, it is hard to get it at the moment.”

In another demonstration of the dangers faced by those left behind, one email received by the Sulha Alliance, from a former British embassy guard in Kabul who was accepted under the ARAP scheme but did not make it on to an evacuation flight, states: “Ever since the Taliban entered Kabul, I have been worried about the future of my family. I have no choice. We have closed the gates of our house completely and I will not leave the house at all.

“The Taliban can come to the area where I live at any moment. They ask the neighbours, and I’m afraid to even turn off the lights. I am in a very bad security situation. I cannot leave the house ... Please help me.”

In his written question response, Mr Cleverly said: “Helping all those who want to leave Afghanistan and who are eligible to come to the UK remains a priority. The government has made clear to the Taliban the need to ensure safe passage of those entitled to go to another country.

“The Joint Afghanistan Casework Unit, staffed by officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Home Office and Ministry of Defence, is taking forward the UK’s commitment to resettle those eligible to come to the UK. The ARAP scheme remains open.”

It comes after the Home Office announced on Thursday that the long-awaited Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), first promised in August – and designed to provide refuge to 20,000 Afghans – would open in January, though charities demanded “urgent clarity” on how the new programme would work and be resourced.

A government spokesperson said the UK continues to process ARAP applications “as quickly as possible” and the scheme would remain open indefinitely.

“The Kabul evacuation was the biggest operation of its kind in recent history and relocated over 15,000 people,” the spokesperson added.

“Since then the UK Government has supported a further 1,500 individuals to leave Afghanistan. This includes more than 800 eligible Afghan and British nationals flown by the RAF via third countries.”