LONDON: Proposals by the UK government to toughen its stance on migrants will risk the lives of Afghans who worked with the British Army, a former interpreter has warned.
Rafi Hottak, 36, who was wounded in an explosion while helping British soldiers fighting the Taliban in Helmand province, told Metro newspaper that many of his former colleagues would suffer as a result of new laws that would make entering the UK by small boat across the English Channel illegal.
The proposals, laid out by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, would see migrants choosing the cross-channel route lose any right to claim asylum in the UK, and make them liable for swift deportation.
Hottak, who came to the UK in 2011 after receiving threats from the Taliban, said many others like him remain in Afghanistan hiding from the group, which swept to power following the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces in August 2021.
“We are losing precious lives every day and most of them are people who have served the NATO forces in Afghanistan,” Hottak said.
“If the existing schemes do not include them, they are forced to flee the country and claim asylum.
“Now, if asylum routes are closed, it means the UK government is taking their fundamental human right away and telling them, ‘I will not save your life even if you have served the NATO forces and I would rather you are killed by the terrorist Taliban’.”
The UK has welcomed over 21,000 Afghans via two schemes since the Taliban returned to power. However, at least 4,300 people with leave to travel to the UK remain stuck in Afghanistan.
According to Ministry of Defence figures, over 71,000 applications made by Afghans to claim asylum in Britain have not been processed.
