Afghan interpreters win right to challenge UK resettlement restrictions
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Version 0 of 1. Afghan interpreters who were injured while working with British forces have won the right to argue before the high court a decision to restrict the numbers coming to Britain was discriminatory and unlawful. An appeal court ruled on Tuesday that the government must respond to claims it failed to consider equality issues before offering Afghan interpreters a resettlement scheme that was much more restrictive than the one offered to their Iraqi counterparts. The decision means a judicial review brought by two Afghan interpreters can challenge whether the defence and foreign secretaries complied with their statutory obligations or not. The judicial review is scheduled for next month. In the appeal court ruling, Lord Justice Sullivan said: “There is a wider public interest in ensuring that government decisions are made in a lawful manner.” Following withdrawal from Iraq, local interpreters who had worked for the British for more than a year were offered a targeted assistance scheme, through which they could either accept a one-off package of financial assistance, exceptional indefinite leave to enter the UK or the opportunity to resettle in Britain. But the Afghan redundancy programme offered the chance to relocate to Britain only to interpreters who were still serving British forces in Helmand province in December 2012 and were employed for more than 12 months. The offer is also inferior in other regards, the lawyers say. The hundreds who stopped work before the cutoff date but who also face death threats have to rely on a separate intimidation policy. Only one interpreter has been deemed to be at a sufficiently high risk to warrant visa. Mohammad Rafi Hottak, one of the claimants against the government who is now living in Birmingham having fled Afghanistan because of death threats, said: “I hope that the British judicial system will make the right choice. There are many interpreters and their families whose lives depend upon the decisions of this appeal and the judicial review.” Last month, the 28-year-old told the Guardian that he identified two former colleagues being beheaded in footage on the internet. The men, who Rafi believes are his friends Yahyah and Achikzai, are shown struggling as they are held down and their heads attacked with a handheld knife. A caption in Pashto describes them as spies. Rosa Curling, a solicitor from the firm Leigh Day representing the interpreters who brought the legal challenge, said: “We are delighted that the court has granted permission for this important legal argument. “The refusal by the government to offer the same resettlement scheme to Afghan interpreters as to Iraqi interpreters is discriminatory and unlawful.” A government spokesman said: “The government will consider the next steps in time for the substantive hearing but we remain confident that our policies are generous, fair and lawful.” |