Hundreds of Afghans in line for sanctuary in Britain in return for their loyalty to the UK were ‘betrayed’ today when ministers suddenly cut a lifeline to help them.
The Afghans, owed a debt a gratitude for working alongside British troops and officials during the UK’s two decades in Afghanistan, face retribution from the vengeful Taliban warlords now running the country.
The Daily Mail’s award-winning ‘Betrayal of the Brave’ campaign helped lead to a scheme being set up to resettle thousands of Afghans in Britain.
But today, without warning, the Government suddenly closed the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) to new applicants.
The decision, slipped out without any announcement, spread panic among those who had been hoping to make a new life in safety in the UK. Campaigners estimate it could affect approximately 800 people.
The scheme’s shock closure – from 3pm today – was confirmed in an ‘explanatory memorandum’ in an obscure Home Office policy document. The Ministry of Defence, which runs the scheme, was unable to offer any explanation.
The decision – and lack of announcement – flies in the face of the public pledges made by former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace when he set up the scheme.
Mr Wallace said in 2020: ‘We want to send a message to the world that if you work with the British wherever we are deployed, we’ll look after you.’
Afghan Interpreter ‘Shaffy’ who worked for the British Army on the front lines in Helmand, and once translated for David Cameron during a visit in 2011
Taliban fighters who took over Afghanistan have long been on the lookout for ‘traitors’ who worked alongside the British – with torture and death meted out to those they catch
Britain is now closing down a route to sanctuary for those being hunted by the vengeful Taliban rulers
Today former frontline interpreter Rafi Hottak, who was blown up on patrol with UK forces in Helmand, said he felt betrayed by the sudden announcement. ‘I am deeply shocked and saddened by the news that the UK Government is scrapping the ARAP scheme – a programme that was meant to honour Britain’s moral obligation to the brave Afghan men and women who stood shoulder to shoulder with British forces in Afghanistan,’ he said.
‘Many of these individuals put their lives on the line for the UK mission. Today, they live in hiding, facing persecution, torture, and death at the hands of the Taliban. Thousands have been waiting for years without a decision on their applications, clinging to hope that the country they served would not abandon them. That hope is now being extinguished.’
Former Sergeant Major Colin Dawson, who served two tours in Afghanistan and battled to help those he worked with escape the Taliban, said : ‘If we have abandoned people out there – and it seems we have – it is very wrong. We have a duty of care to these people who served with us.
‘After all these years there are still people left behind who we should be helping. Many people have been rescued and we should be grateful for that but my experience of ARAP has been negative, I have tried to help one interpreter whose family is still in country – they have been beaten and abused – but ARAP has failed to reply. The last occasion was only last week. It is immensely frustration, these people are in desperate need and yet hope, it seems, is being taken from them.’
Rafi Hottak, who was blown up on patrol with UK forces in Helmand, said he felt betrayed by the sudden announcement
Mr Hottak said: ‘Many of these individuals put their lives on the line for the UK mission. Today, they live in hiding, facing persecution, torture, and death at the hands of the Taliban’
There are the 1,010 translators who had their contracts ‘terminated’ without right of appeal. Pictured: A Taliban fighter on top of an armoured vehicle loads a gun outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan
The Mail has won awards for its ‘Betrayal of the Brave’ campaign to help hundreds of translators who served shoulder-to-shoulder with British forces, saving countless lives by being their ‘eyes and ears’.
After the British left Afghanistan, they were left to fend for themselves as the Taliban bing hunting down those ‘infidels’ who had helped the UK. The Mail’s campaign, along with campaigners and many former British officers, led to the government setting up the ARAP scheme to give sanctuary to those who deserved our support.
Professor Sara de Jong, a founding member of the Sulha Alliance which campaigns for interpreters and those who worked for Britain, said: ‘While Luke Pollard as Minister for the Armed Forces rightly thanked the civil servants and military personnel for their support in the relocation and integration of eligible Afghans, it is high time that the Government acknowledged that none of this would have been possible without veteran and other advocates, charities, lawyers, journalists and volunteers, who stepped in where Government failed and continued to hold the Government to account to fulfil its promise to Afghans.
‘The sudden announcement that ARAP closes comes as a shock to the Sulha Alliance and our community of Afghan interpreters and other locally employed civilians. Perversely, the Government’s own ARAP website has not even been updated yet and states that the scheme “remains open”. Perversely, the Government’s own ARAP website has not even been updated yet and states that the scheme “remains open”.
‘The closure is implemented in a very odd way, by adding as a criteria for eligibility that applicants must have “submitted their application before 15:00 BST on 1 July 2025”.“ Afghan applicants deserved advance notice of this new rule, especially as the UK Government prided itself in teaching Afghans about good governance and transparency.
‘There is no information on what will happen with applicants who have submitted a request for a review of a negative decision, many of whom have been waiting for months if not years.’
Erin Alcock, a lawyer from the firm Leigh Day which has been helping applicants, said: ‘The decision to close the Afghan relocation schemes immediately, without any notice, is alarming.
‘The decision-making process under the ARAP scheme has been poor and badly managed since the scheme’s inception.
‘We are aware of cases where individuals have been forced to go through the application process repeatedly before finally being accepted.
‘The decision to close the scheme immediately and without any notice, risks people currently going through that process falling between the gaps, unable to re-apply. The decision to close the ACRS is equally alarming, in particular the decision not to open up any further pathways.
‘Many vulnerable at-risk individuals in Afghanistan do not have recourse to any other routes and have been waiting years for the opening of more pathways under ACRS through which they could apply. The decision not to open any further pathways leaves them with no chance for relocation to safety.’
The Ministry of Defence did not respond to a request for comment.
