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| Afghan interpreters could be offered relocation to Britain | Afghan interpreters could be offered relocation to Britain |
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| Hundreds of Afghan interpreters who have risked their lives working with UK forces in Helmand province could be offered relocation to Britain this week when David Cameron reviews the issue at a meeting of the national security council. | |
| The prime minister has been given three broad options and is expected to make a decision on Tuesday that could affect up to 1,100 Afghan nationals – including more than 600 interpreters, who could be in grave danger from reprisals once Nato forces leave Afghanistan in 2014. | |
| The most comprehensive option involves offering a relocation package similar to the one given to local interpreters after the Iraq war. | |
| But two cheaper ideas also being considered include offering the interpreters a series of "economic incentives" to remain in Afghanistan, and requiring them to apply for asylum in the usual way, without preferential treatment. | But two cheaper ideas also being considered include offering the interpreters a series of "economic incentives" to remain in Afghanistan, and requiring them to apply for asylum in the usual way, without preferential treatment. |
| This would infuriate campaigners, who have argued the interpreters must be given immediate special status as a reward for the dangerous work they have undertaken. | This would infuriate campaigners, who have argued the interpreters must be given immediate special status as a reward for the dangerous work they have undertaken. |
| Twenty interpreters have died since 2001 – five were abducted and murdered by insurgents. Dozens of others have been wounded. The US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have all granted Afghan interpreters the right to asylum. | Twenty interpreters have died since 2001 – five were abducted and murdered by insurgents. Dozens of others have been wounded. The US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have all granted Afghan interpreters the right to asylum. |
| The Taliban has declared a death sentence on all Afghans working with Nato forces in the country, and some members of the national security council have privately expressed fears the UK will look miserly, and lacking in compassion, unless the interpreters are given the option to live in the UK. | |
| The interpreters are paid well compared with most Afghans – about £1,000 a month – but the cash cannot protect them from revenge attacks. | The interpreters are paid well compared with most Afghans – about £1,000 a month – but the cash cannot protect them from revenge attacks. |
| "You can offer the interpreters every economic incentive in the world to stay in their own country, but that isn't going to remove the threat posed to them," said one Whitehall source. | "You can offer the interpreters every economic incentive in the world to stay in their own country, but that isn't going to remove the threat posed to them," said one Whitehall source. |
| Last week senior military figures and politicians joined calls for the interpreters to be offered asylum, saying the country had a "moral obligation" to protect them. | |
| In an open letter, the former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown and General Mike Jackson, head of the army during the Iraq war, said: "The British military's job in Afghanistan would have been impossible without local interpreters, who have risked their lives and made extraordinary sacrifices just like British soldiers. | In an open letter, the former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown and General Mike Jackson, head of the army during the Iraq war, said: "The British military's job in Afghanistan would have been impossible without local interpreters, who have risked their lives and made extraordinary sacrifices just like British soldiers. |
| "After the Iraq war the UK gave Iraqi interpreters asylum in this country, but – shamefully – Britain is the only Nato country yet to do this for Afghan interpreters." | "After the Iraq war the UK gave Iraqi interpreters asylum in this country, but – shamefully – Britain is the only Nato country yet to do this for Afghan interpreters." |
| Though the Foreign Office has promised to help the interpreters, there has been criticism of the scheme offered to Iraqi interpreters, which defence officials have said "is expensive and complex to administer". | |
| But in the latest Commons defence select committee report on Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, a former director general for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Foreign Office, said it would be possible to repatriate staff and for them to start a new life. | But in the latest Commons defence select committee report on Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, a former director general for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Foreign Office, said it would be possible to repatriate staff and for them to start a new life. |
| "We employ a vast number of interpreters and highly skilled people within the [Nato] mission. As we have seen elsewhere, if given lump sums and the right kind of training, they can come out and start setting up businesses of their own," he said. | "We employ a vast number of interpreters and highly skilled people within the [Nato] mission. As we have seen elsewhere, if given lump sums and the right kind of training, they can come out and start setting up businesses of their own," he said. |
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