The Afghan pilot threatened with deportation to Rwanda remains in limbo four months after he first pleaded with Rishi Sunak to be granted safe haven in the UK.
As part of the Afghan Air Force, he went on sorties planned and designed by British and US commanders, flying more than 30 combat missions alongside coalition forces in the run-up to the fall of Kabul in 2021.
Often at night, these missions were designed to support army bases on the ground against Taliban attack.
When the coalition troops left in August that year, the pilot was among those dangerously exposed.
The Taliban took over their offices and uncovered every detail about the pilot – his email address, his phone number and where he lived.
Having been promised safe haven by the UK and the US, he waited in hiding in Afghanistan for several months before making the heartbreaking decision to leave his wife and young children and find safe refuge.
A long journey over land and sea culminated in a dangerous journey across the English Channel last November.
Thinking he would be welcomed and thanked for his sacrifice, the pilot was appalled to discover that he was threatened with deportation to Rwanda.
Since then, he has lived in limbo while his family live in hiding in Afghanistan. He applied for settlement in the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which was set up to bring those who helped British forces during the war to safety in the UK. He produced a raft of documents showing his work alongside coalition forces and a letter of recommendation from a US official who described him as a “patriot to his nation”.
Dozens of military chiefs, politicians and diplomats have since backed The Independent’s campaign to secure safe haven for the airman. The matter was raised in parliament and at a select committee with Rishi Sunak who pledged to look into his case.
In the meantime, The Independent raised the pilot’s plight with White House officials who also promised to look into his case.
He was given a sliver of hope when he was told that permission for him to apply for asylum had been given – this is only done when a US official formally recommends you for consideration. The process in the US, by no means assured, can take months if not years.
Meanwhile, there was huge disappointment when the pilot was told he had been rejected under Arap because he was not deemed to have worked “for or alongside” British troops.
Speaking of his disappointment, the pilot said he felt “abandoned” by the UK. He said: “Who are these people who think Afghan veterans are not in danger? They clearly don’t understand the situation in Afghanistan – right now the Taliban are mercenaries, targeting people like me who worked alongside UK and US forces.”
“If the UK are abandoning us again, I hope the US may help,” the pilot said. “Many former Afghan pilots are even flying in the US, they are using their skills, unlike what the UK are doing with me.”
The pilot’s notice of deportation to Rwanda lapses after six months if there is no decision – impossible given that the whole Rwanda policy is held up in the courts.
Afghan pilot— (Holy Bancroft)
That six-month deadline runs out at the end of this month and he will automatically fall back into the normal asylum system for processing as an asylum seeker.
That process could also take months if not years and the bravery he showed by serving alongside the coalition forces in Afghanistan will count for nothing.
