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Question
Since before the fall of Kabul, the Government’s treatment of Afghans who worked alongside British troops has been a shameful saga. Ministers have failed to manage ARAP applications, housing promises were broken, data breaches occurred, and Afghans are in limbo fearing for their lives. Former Afghan special forces may face deportation from Pakistan back to Afghanistan under Taliban rule. How many former Afghan special forces are at risk of deportation? What threat assessments exist regarding these individuals and their families? What is the current backlog in ARAP cases? Were assurances received from Pakistan that Afghans will remain safe until relocation to the UK? Will no one pending ARAP or ACRS decisions be sent back to Afghanistan?
Minister reply
There are several issues conflated here. The MOD team has worked through tens of thousands of applications, finding those who worked directly for British armed forces and accelerating their approval. Regarding deportation, assurances from Pakistan Government were received that Afghans eligible under ARAP will not be deported. One case of deportation before appeal is noted but corrected. For former Afghan special forces in third countries, without employment records, it's impossible to know how many may now be in Pakistan or elsewhere. The MOD cannot determine eligibility for those working directly with Afghan security forces.
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Question
I think I am right in saying that the International Security Assistance Force was officially a NATO assistance force to the then Afghan Government, so what is there to prevent NATO countries from banding together and making joint representations to the Pakistani Government that whatever they do with former service personnel who, at our request, fought against the Taliban, they should not now mercilessly deport them to the tender non-mercies of the Taliban, who are currently out for vengeance?
Minister reply
I understand my right hon. Friend’s question. He is a great champion of this cohort. NATO countries—and, indeed, countries beyond NATO, like Australia—routinely make representations to the Pakistani Government, who have been incredibly flexible and supportive in working for us. The challenge—it is sad to have to say this—is that there are many people who claim to have served in the Triples who may well not have done. If my right hon. Friend were to go through the casework files on our system, he would see the same pictures submitted again and again as evidence by people claiming to have worked in the Triples. Absent those employment records from the Afghan MOIA or the Afghan MOD, it is incredibly hard to say who is and who is not legitimate, given that often people are accessing on social media stock photographs that they seek to use as evidence.
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Question
I am sure the Minister will recognise that it is not only Members of the House, but some of his ex-comrades in arms—even people like my own brother, who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan—who are deeply concerned about the idea of their former comrades in arms being forced back into the hands of the Taliban. To them, it seems to reflect a reality: there is a lack of clarity about why some people are not getting access to schemes to access the UK, especially those who fled without paperwork—because, as I am sure we can imagine, the Taliban will not be giving ex-special forces any passports anytime soon. I wonder whether the Minister answer two specific points. Does he recognise the reality that ex-special forces from Afghanistan would face if they were given back into the hands of the Taliban? Does he agree that while Pakistan may have the right to do so, it has not always been the best arbiter of relationships with the new regime in Afghanistan and has sometimes gone out of its way to undermine a collective approach to them?
Minister reply
On the hon. Gentleman’s last point, I am reluctant to join him in making that criticism, because, in my experience of dealing with the Pakistan Government—of whom I have asked an awful lot, as did the Chief of the General Staff when he recently visited and was hosted by the Pakistan chief of the army staff—they have been incredibly accommodating; they have arguably been more accommodating to the UK’s requests than those of other allies and partners. On the hon. Gentleman’s first question—a deeply uncomfortable one—I do indeed recognise the danger. I recognise the danger faced by the kandak that I served alongside in the upper Helmand valley.
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Question
I know from working with the Minister on Operation Pitting the passion that he brings to this work and the deep debt of gratitude he personally owes to those who fought alongside him. He will appreciate the House’s concern that we could see someone who fought alongside our forces forced from Pakistan back to Afghanistan. I take on board his point that the entirety of the special forces worked with the whole mission, and not just with the UK, so what discussions is he having with our allies about perhaps having a quota for moving people over? That is a clumsy way of putting it, but it is the best way I can summarise it. What work is he doing with Home Office resources to ensure that there is no backlog in ARAP places, and what is he doing with colleagues in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure that housing is available for those who need to be relocated from Pakistan?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is right to ask whether it is possible for countries that have relocation schemes to club together to share the burden of any particular grouping. The difficulty is that, without the employment records, there is no way of knowing the entirety of those who served in that grouping.
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Question
I thank the Minister for his statement. I have a constituent who was a member of the special forces in Afghanistan—I will not name him—and who approached me several months ago about his family stuck in Pakistan. The bureaucracy and disconnection between different parts of Government are astounding. Finally, we have relocated his family to the UK, but it was not an easy process. It took a long time for me to wade through the treacle of the various Government Departments. Who is in charge of that? We have just spent £200 million on the Rwanda resettlement scheme. Surely, putting some money and effort behind the scheme would solve the problem.
Minister reply
A number of policy decisions and realities around wider immigration in this country have meant that ARAP has moved at a variable pace. Ultimately, ARAP sits under the MOD and, thus, me. ACRS sits elsewhere. Since the Pakistanis made it clear that they would start to deport those without documents, we have been able to accelerate movement both from Afghanistan to Pakistan and from Pakistan to the UK.
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Question
I have just come off the phone to a friend who lived in the mountains and worked with the 333. He explained how the Foreign Office paid them through the Ministry of Interior Affairs, but he and his colleagues gave them cash to top up their payments—effectively to pay them special forces pay. He said that the MOD position is
“the most ludicrous argument I have heard in my life. If it was not so sad, it would be hilarious.”
The 444 worked with every single brigade in Helmand and was described as an indispensable part of Task Force Helmand, doing outreach and reconnaissance. Do the Government not need to take a slightly harder look at this?
Minister reply
The Government are looking at it very hard indeed. We consider every case on its individual merits. If an individual served in one of those taskforces or in the National Directorate of Security and is not entitled to come, but there is evidence that they worked closely with UK intelligence community, UK special forces or our embassy, we are making the case for them to come under category 4.
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Question
I was in Afghanistan at the very beginning with the Triples. It is particularly painful that, despite commitments and assurances from the UK Government, this cohort of Afghans and their families are left fearing for their lives. I listened carefully to what the Minister had to say, but I have seen credible evidence of an individual who served with the Triples and who was rejected for the ARAP scheme by the MOD. He was subsequently arrested by the Taliban, beaten and killed. Does the Minister know of any Triples who have died under similar circumstances? If he does, what more can be done to prevent the loss of life of the heroes we served alongside?
Minister reply
The House may think that I am speaking relatively plainly in response to these questions. Undoubtedly, a significant number of people who served in the Afghan national security forces, like the person the hon. Gentleman referred to, are in mortal danger as a consequence of having served in the Afghan army, air force or special forces. It is also a reality that no country has set up a relocation scheme that extends beyond those who worked directly for that country and that verifies the service of those people, unless directly alongside the UK special forces or UK intelligence communities.
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Question
Given the contrast between the rhetoric and promises of resettlement, and the shambolic reality facing many Afghans who worked for us, with us or fought alongside our troops, what assessment has the Minister made of the likely impact of his apparent bad faith on the willingness of foreign nationals to offer us their assistance in future?
Minister reply
I push back on the idea that this is all some sort of failure. The reality is that we have moved out very nearly 14,000 people and are continuing to do so against incredible difficulties in Afghanistan while working carefully alongside the Pakistan Government. Concerning the broader impact on our ability to work with partner forces and locally employed civilians, setting a precedent where those who assist us expect immigration rights might make future operations difficult.
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Question
Earlier this year, the Minister said that the backlog for ARAP would be cleared by August; exactly how many applications are still outstanding?
Minister reply
I apologise if I misled about clearing the backlog by August. There are less than a few hundred eligible applications left to process. Approximately 2,000 people remain in Afghanistan and around 1,800 in Pakistan who need assistance. The goal is to bring over another 4,000-4,500 individuals as quickly as possible, with cooperation from the Pakistani Government.
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Question
Does the assurance given by Islamabad to the Minister regarding personnel who will not be deported extend to their families?
Minister reply
Yes, the assurances provided include protection for both principals and their family members from deportation while they are in Pakistan with acceptance or eligibility under ARAP.
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Question
Since hotels where eligible individuals were staying have closed down, how many actually came to the UK? Also, will he undertake to look at cases of individuals wrongly denied ARAP with clear evidence?
Minister reply
Approximately 1,700 people arrived in the UK via about seven flights in the last couple of weeks. The MOD is working to move people through accommodation quickly and appreciates local authority cooperation. We will review any cases where there is substantial evidence that a decision was made wrongly.
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Question
Will the Minister meet those with constituency cases to establish whether anyone has been missed out from eligibility under ARAP?
Minister reply
Of course I would like to meet the hon. Lady to discuss her cases in detail and ensure that people who served alongside UK forces are not wrongly excluded from ARAP.
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Question
Have any Afghans awaiting an ARAP decision been deported from Pakistan to Afghanistan and are now at risk from the Taliban?
Minister reply
I will inquire within the Department whether I can obtain this number and respond accordingly. The UK offer for ARAP is among the most generous compared to other countries, given our size and military commitment.
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Question
Given that special forces have assisted in standing up for values such as free speech, women’s rights, and the rule of law, would it not be better to use discretion especially when speaking about people who potentially fought with great valour?
Minister reply
It is impossible to verify service for those who did not serve directly alongside British armed forces. There are tens of thousands of desperate individuals wrongly applying and showing false evidence, making verification challenging.