An Afghan interpreter who claims his work helped save the lives of British soldiers has been refused asylum in the UK. Aslam Yousaf Zai, 25, says he fled his home in Kabul after the Taliban singled him out for working with the British army and threatened to kill him and harm his family.
Zai spent three years travelling across Asia and Europe in poverty before being smuggled into Britain in a refrigerated lorry a year ago. He applied for asylum but was refused after a Home Office interview. The Home Office accepted that Zai worked with British troops but said it did not believe he would be in danger if he returned to Afghanistan.
Zai started working for the British army in 2009, patrolling in Helmand province where he acted as interpreter between locals and soldiers and listened in on Taliban radio communications. He said he was targeted by insurgents who identified him as a collaborator. After threats began, he quit his job and did not leave his home for three months. He said at least one friend who worked as an interpreter was murdered.
The Home Office letter refusing his asylum claim said he had failed to demonstrate that the Taliban really knew he was an interpreter for the British army. Zai said: 'I came here because I work with the British, they know my problem better than others. Then after one year they give me interview at Home Office and in 16 days they refuse my asylum.'
Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, said the British public had been consistently keen for Afghan translators to be offered security and protection. A 2013 YouGov poll found that 60% of respondents backed resettling Afghan interpreters in the UK if they faced risks.
