To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk from attack by the Taliban on Afghan interpreters who have worked for the UK or its allies; how low they estimate such risk to be in Kabul in particular; and what evidence they use to make such assessments.
Answered on
5 June 2018
There have been a number of recent attacks in Kabul by the Taleban or other terrorist groups causing tragically large scale loss of life. These have generally been targeted at Afghan security personnel and buildings. We are aware of no attacks in Kabul targeted against our former local staff leading to loss of life or significant injury. All claims of intimidation by former staff are investigated on an individual basis by an expert UK team based in Kabul; this includes a police officer appropriately trained and experienced in criminal investigation. The UK is the only nation with such a team and have now supported over 450 former staff. Where there is a threat that is linked to their former UK employment, we will take steps to address this threat, either through security advice, relocation in country or, if neither of these will address the threat, by allowing the individual and their immediate family to apply for relocation to the UK. The threat level for both Kabul and Afghanistan as a whole is kept under review by the FCO and MOD experts.