Interpreters who risked their lives in Afghanistan learn fate today
AFGHAN interpreters who risked their lives for British forces will today learn their fate after challenging a High Court ruling for extra Government assistance.
The two interpreters - regarded by the Taliban as ''infidel spies' - say they put their lives on the line to help UK troops who were serving in Afghanistan.
Claimant Mohammed Rafi Hottak said he had “risked bombs and bullets” for people he considered friends and who he was now having to fight against for rights.
But the men say they have now been dropped by the Government after they found they would be denied extra help to resettle in Britain.
They have now challenged the assistance and relocation scheme set up by the British Government for Afghan interpreters, aimed at keeping former Afghan staff safe in case of risks arising from their former employment.
In March, lawyers told the Court of Appeal that both men gave "principled and brave" service.
Lady Justice Arden, Lord Justice David Richards and Sir Colin Rimer heard that they and their families had suffered serious injuries in Taliban attacks and faced threats to their lives.
But the pair claim that a current scheme for extra assistance is unfair and unlawful because help is not available to staff who left British employment before December 2012.
They say they are being discriminated against and treated differently to Iraqi interpreters, who were all given assistance when their lives became endangered through assisting the British in the Iraq war.
Now they are demanding that the Afghan scheme covers "locally engaged staff" employed by the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Afghanistan before the 2012 cut-off date.
Mr Hottak, a father of three, has already claimed asylum in the UK but has been unable to benefit from additional help under the assistance scheme.
The other claimant, a man only referred to as AL, remains in hiding in Kabul and must remain anonymous as he still faces constant danger and death threats from the Taliban.
The scheme under challenge dates back to 2012, when the then Prime Minister announced the drawdown of UK forces from Afghanistan.
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It was introduced to aid interpreters and other local staff deemed to be engaged in "dangerous and challenging roles" with the British, if they had been in post on December 19 2012 and had served more than 12 months.
Staff whose employment ended before that date, either voluntarily or for disciplinary reasons, were not eligible.
In July last year, the High Court ruled that the "territorial reach" of the Equality Act 2010 was not such "as to include the claimants' circumstances" and there was no direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of nationality.
At least 20 interpreters for the British Army have been killed since 2001 while some 94 percent of Afghan interpreters claim to have received death threats.