An Afghan interpreter who risked his life working with British forces is stranded and destitute in Greece, prompting concerns over the long-term prospects for those fleeing Afghanistan to other countries.
Mohammed Nabi Wardak served on the frontline in Helmand Province with UK troops between 2008 and 2011, but after fleeing the Taliban has been homeless in Athens for three years. Wardak, who commanding officers described as an “excellent interpreter” who “risked his life on many occasions,” is stranded after British officials initially refused to relocate him and then delayed his transfer because his risk diminished once he had escaped Afghanistan.
Although he has been approved to live in the UK under a scheme for those that served British interests in Afghanistan, officials on Friday asked him for his application details, suggesting the former interpreter’s case is lost in the system.
Aid agencies fear thousands of Afghans who apply to live in the UK will become trapped in refugee camps for long periods in countries like Pakistan as their cases are processed. On Friday Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, visited Islamabad to try to negotiate safe passage for those attempting to leave Afghanistan, confirming that the UK is encouraging thousands to flee to neighbouring countries.
Speaking from Athens, Wardak told the Observer: “The Taliban were hunting me and nearly killed me because I worked as an interpreter for the British army. The embassy and army in Afghanistan did not help me when I told them I was being threatened.
“So I made my way to Greece in order to try and eventually get to the UK. But here I am in limbo.”
He fled Afghanistan in 2016 to protect his family, but since the Taliban takeover last month, has lost contact with his wife and four children.
On 6 August, nine days before the country fell to the Taliban, the 33-year-old was notified he could live in the UK and that his family should head to the British embassy in Kabul for a biometric appointment “for them to be reunited with you in the UK”.
Since then, they have gone missing and Wardak says his requests to UK officials to evacuate his family while it was safe were ignored. An email he sent to Ministry of Defence personnel in Kabul on 23 July explains that Taliban forces had surrounded his village and fighting was audible. “My family is in imminent danger from the Taliban. My children cry out every night that they will die and do not sleep. This happened again last night. I worked for the British army as an interpreter, I now deserve the protection they promised me,” he wrote.
In another email exchange on 28 July after Wardak says he has had no response from UK authorities for four months, a British official based in Kabul states: “We are processing cases as quickly as we can with a very small team to process vast amounts of applicants with complex issues, the issue is that he [Wardak] is in a third country status as he lives in Greece.”
The reference to modest staffing levels raises fresh questions over the lack of British preparation to its exit strategy. France began evacuating Afghans working for its embassy and other French organisations, along with their families in May, three months before the fall of Kabul.
Wardak was a highly regarded Helmand interpreter, serving with the Parachute Regiment, Grenadier Guards and Duke of Lancaster Regiment and acquired numerous plaudits. One commanding officer described him as an “extraordinary young man with an infectious personality” and another conceded that he “put his family in danger by association”. During his three years as an interpreter, Wardak worked in some of Helmand’s most bitterly contested areas including Musa Kala and Kajaki, where his predecessor was killed.
In May 2016 Wardak crossed from Turkey into Greece and has been sleeping rough in Athens since, where he has been assaulted and robbed a number of times.
Fiyaz Mughal, founder of Faith Matters, who is campaigning for Wardak and his family to come to the UK, said: “This government has known about Nabi’s case since 2018. They knew the risk to him and his family since he was targeted twice for assassination by the Taliban with a kidnap attempt in broad daylight.
“It is clear that Nabi has been seriously let down and his family left to the mercy of the Taliban. It is a stain on this government and its handling of the rights of Afghan personnel who worked with us.”
The Home Office says that it does not comment on individual cases.
