UK

MoD admits it vetoed sanctuary applications from Afghan soldiers

Ross Hunter
Thu, 20 June 2024 

A member of the British armed forces disembarks from an RAF aircraft (Image: Alastair Grant)

MEMBERS of the British special forces were able to veto sanctuary applications from their Afghan counterparts to stop them coming to the UK, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted.

Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 concerns were expressed by campaigners that members of an elite Afghan unit were being blocked from coming to the UK.

Some of the Afghan soldiers were believed to have been members of the Triples – units which were set up, trained and funded by the UK – who could have provided evidence to the official inquiry into allegations the British special forces murdered unarmed Afghans being led by Lord Justice Haddon-Cave.

After veterans minister Johnny Mercer complained that there was a “conflict of interest” if the special forces members were deciding who would and would not be granted sanctuary, the MoD denied this was the case.

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Members of Afghanistan’s special forces who fought alongside British personnel have previously been tortured and killed by the Taliban.

Now, SNP candidate Stewart McDonald (below) has learned that British special forces were able to veto applications from Afghan units.

In response to a parliamentary question asked by McDonald in March, the UK Government stated that “every individual application is considered on a case-by-case basis in line with our published ARAP (Afghan relocations and assistance policy) criteria.”

However, on Tuesday MoD Minister Andrew Murrison took the unprecedented step of issuing a correction letter to Stewart McDonald, u-turning on the government’s previously held position.

Murrison conceded that there had been "inconsistent application of the ARAP criteria to a tranche of applicants with links to former Afghan specialist units" and admitting that UK Special Forces had intervened in the ARAP process to block the visas of their Afghan counterparts.

The letter was sent to an old campaign email of McDonald’s, as well as a generic SNP headquarters email, rather than directly to McDonald’s parliamentary email.

McDonald said: “This is an extraordinary admission by the UK Government - the first of its kind by a serving minister - and represents a complete and utter betrayal of those Afghan men who fought alongside UK personnel and now face being hunted and executed by the Taliban.”

“That the letter has been sneaked out in the most underhand fashion, clearly in the hope that it would go under the radar during an election campaign, is unprecedented and extraordinary.

“I intend to share the letter with Lord Justice Haddon-Cave as it is clearly pertinent to his inquiry.

“Throughout this Parliament, I have consistently campaigned for the UK Government to follow our European and NATO allies in allowing elected politicians to scrutinise the work of the Special Forces.

“I have consistently been met with stonewalling and lies.

"From documents released during the Afghanistan inquiry which reveal that government Ministers knowingly gave false answers to my questions in the House of Commons to this latest attempt to cover their tracks during an election campaign, is it clear that the UK Government will defy the basic principles of honest government even to the bitter end.

"For too long, the Westminster parties have agreed an omerta on the Special Forces. Only the SNP will stand up against this anti-democratic conspiracy of silence, which does nothing but undermine the long-term capability and safety of the Armed Forces and further damage this country's reputation abroad."

An MoD spokeswoman said: “We have announced a reassessment of all decisions on ineligible applications with credible claims to Afghan specialist units, including the Triples.

"This will be done by independent staff in the department who have not previously worked on these applications.”