London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Ministers will take charge of the race to save UK Afghan interpreters

Ministers will take charge of the race to save UK Afghan interpreters

Some 1,500 officials are now working in the UK and in Afghanistan to assess claims of former UK staff living under a Taliban death sentence. The United States began its airlift of interpreters.

Ministers are to take personal charge of Britain's Afghan interpreters rescue programme in a desperate bid to speed up the relocation process.

After fierce criticism, they have ordered a 'doubling of the pace' at which the scheme is administered, with a wide review of rejected cases.

Some 1,500 officials are now working here and in Afghanistan to assess claims of former UK staff living under a Taliban death sentence.

It comes as the United States began its airlift of interpreters and militants continued their relentless advance across the war-ravaged country.

A 'mercy flight' of 221 Afghans, including children and babies, touched down in the US state of Virginia yesterday.

Up to 50,000 former US workers and their families are set to follow as part of Operation Allies Refuge.

Today the Daily Mail reveals the shocking story of Farid, a translator whose bid to relocate to Britain under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Programme (ARAP) was rejected – even after he was shot by suspected Taliban gunmen.

Last night Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the Government to revamp ARAP and take the US's lead.

The US is willing to airlift interpreters and families, whose applications are pending, while generally UK interpreters must wait in Afghanistan for their applications to be accepted. Only then are they permitted to travel to Britain.

On numbers rescued, however, the UK is ahead of the US with more than 2,000 Afghans already relocated to Britain, with around 400 to arrive this week. 'We are light years ahead of the Americans', said a senior British official.

But Sir Keir said: 'The interpreters in Afghanistan have been hugely important to us and we owe them a moral duty to look after them. I would like to see our Government matching the US's commitment and the sooner we are able to do this, the better.'

Last night, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) urged the Government to revamp Afghan Relocation and Assistance Programme (ARAP) and take the US's lead


Since British troops and Western allies withdrew, the Taliban has expanded territory, controlling at least half the country. Experts fear the national government could fall in six months.

In response, 40 former senior military officers warned the Prime Minister that Britain faced 'dishonour' if any UK interpreters were murdered.

Just hours later sources indicated Britain might be willing to bring interpreters over 'on spec', to wait here while their cases are considered. But there has been no official confirmation this will be implemented.

The Daily Mail has highlighted the plight of the translators with our award-winning Betrayal of the Brave campaign.

Yesterday Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who served in Afghanistan, said: 'We need the bureaucracy and the system to catch up. Some interpreters had their service terminated for disciplinary reasons [preventing relocation]. But are issues worth a death sentence? Anyone found by the Taliban will be killed and so will their families.'

Last night a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'Nobody's life should be put at risk because they supported the UK Government in Afghanistan.

'Our Afghan relocation policy is one of the most generous in the world and has already supported over 2,300 former Afghan staff and their families to start new lives in the UK, with 1,000 of them arriving over the last few weeks alone.

'As we continue to significantly accelerate the pace of relocations, hundreds more will follow.'

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×