Afghan Translators Fleeing The Taliban Arrive UK

Afghan translators whose lives are in danger because they worked for the British military have arrived in the United Kingdom.

Gatekeepers News reports that Afghan translators and other local staff who worked with Britain and other NATO members such as the United States, Germany and France had clamoured to be relocated for fear of Taliban reprisals.

The first group of translators arrived in Birmingham, central England, on Tuesday evening and they are expected to go into COVID-19 quarantine for 14 days.

Britain had in May, announced it would accelerate plans for the relocation of Afghan staff who worked with the military and their families ahead of a planned withdrawal of US-led NATO forces.

Gatekeepers News gathered that under a relocation scheme for former and current Afghan staff, more than 1,300 workers and their families have been brought to Britain.

The Government stated that over 3,000 Afghans are expected to be resettled under the accelerated plans.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has said the government has a “moral obligation” to relocate staff and to “recognize the risks they faced in the fight against terrorism and reward their efforts.”

Retired Col. Simon Diggins, the former British attache in Kabul and now a campaigner for the Sulha Alliance, said the translators would receive four months of support after which he said, “the real struggle begins.”

Gatekeepers News reports that dozens of Afghan translators have been killed or tortured in targeted assaults by the radical Islamist group in the two decades since the US-led invasion.