Former Afghan Special Forces: Deportation

Kevin Foster Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[James Heappey]

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. I recognise the danger that exists for every other Afghan army and air force unit, which were undoubtedly closely related to ISAF forces throughout the campaign. But, for them, none of the resettlement schemes from any of the ISAF countries or their partners allows them to come, because they are not set up for those who served in the wider Afghan forces. As a veteran of that conflict—someone who lived cheek by jowl with a kandak—I can tell him that it makes me sick, but that is the reality. To make them all eligible would be to give eligibility to hundreds of thousands of servicepeople, and five times that again to bring their dependants. That is simply not an endeavour that the UK can undertake.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

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?

[James Heappey]

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. Thus, as I said previously, members of the Triples or other units—the National Directorate of Security, for example—tend to be granted category 4 because there is a member of the UK armed forces or UK intelligence community, or veterans, who can personally vouch for the role they played in the conflict. That will be the same for the Australians, the Canadians, the Americans, the Danes and whoever else. It would be impossible to say that an entire taskforce—CF333 or ATF444—could all come without knowing the totality of the employment record, because there would be simply no way to determine who did or did not serve with those units.