Britain must keep its promise to those Afghans who fought alongside our forces

As a matter of national honour, the British government must stop dragging its feet in protecting those who served alongside our troops in Afghanistan. As we report today, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted in an internal review that Afghans who worked with British forces are still likely to be at risk from Taliban retribution.

Despite this admission, in June last year the government stopped evacuating families who had already been approved for sanctuary in Britain. Luke Pollard, the defence minister, announced in April this year that Afghan families eligible for relocation would have to flee the Taliban-run country on their own.

He told the Commons in a written statement that the thousands of Afghans still waiting would “need to make their own way to a third country when they are able to do so”.

The Independent can now reveal that a review carried out by the MoD in February concluded that “the risk to individuals who may be eligible … remains real, albeit diminished”.

The review tried to minimise the dangers to Afghans who served with or worked for British forces during the 20 years that Western troops occupied the country before the Taliban regained control in 2021. It described the threat as “selective and localised” and that recent attacks, including killings, of Afghans “may well be the result of recent transgressions, rather than their previous affiliation” to the UK government.

These excuses are beside the point. The British government made a solemn promise to those Afghans who worked with the British that they would be protected. Many thousands of them have been given sanctuary in Britain, but there remain about 7,000 who the MoD accepts are in danger and are therefore eligible for resettlement, but who are still in Afghanistan or neighbouring countries, mainly Pakistan and Iran.

This number is higher than it would have been because of the catastrophic data breach in 2022, when the MoD accidentally sent out a list of Afghans who had worked with the British by insecure email. This was an error for which the British government has to take responsibility, and yet too much of the response to it involved obfuscation and delay.

We are concerned that this approach, to make it difficult and slow to make it to safety, is typical of the British state’s attitude to its obligations to Afghans generally. We are proud to have played a role in the Home Office’s decision in 2023 to grant indefinite leave to remain for the Afghan pilot who was threatened with deportation to Rwanda.

But throughout The Independent’s long campaign to hold the government to account for its promises, we have suspected that the unspoken view among ministers and officials is that obstruction and delay are an effective way of discouraging applicants.

This is unacceptable. We understand that immigration is a sensitive political subject, and we share the public’s dismay at the previous government losing control of the system, allowing too many work visas and dependants. But the Afghan situation is specific, limited and a question of principle. Public opinion supports the government in delivering its obligations to those who served alongside our troops or who put themselves at risk by working to assist them as translators, guides or administrators.

It is now time, five years after the fall of Kabul, for the government to end the delays, the excuses and the attempts to minimise the dangers. Of course, applicants must be checked, and undesirables must not be allowed to take advantage of British generosity, but we are now talking about thousands of people who have been accepted for protection but are unable to make it to safety.

The UK must at long last finally discharge its obligations to our Afghan allies, promptly and in full.