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Up To 600 Afghan Interpreters Given The Right To Come To Britain.

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anotheoldgit | 09:15 Wed 22nd May 2013 | News
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2328754/Up-600-Afghan-interpreters-risked-lives-help-British-forces-right-live-UK.html

Is it right to allow these 'paid' foreign employees of the UK, the right to reside in this country?

It is said they will receive free travel to the UK and accommodation paid for their first three months.

Who will be paying after those three months expire? I think you have got it in one.

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Not racist at all, just trying to be sardonic. The reason that we have foreigners over here working is that our own, home-grown unemployed are unwilling to get off the dole and do the jobs themselves. That should have been obvious from my post. I'm not sure who exactly these Afghanis are that have helped our troops in the past and may now be allowed to live in Britain, but they deserve our support. If they have skills and are prepared to work, then all very well.
AOG

I would challenge your point:

[i]Funny the different response one gets, when showing support for our soldiers, it is then we hear "no one forced therm to enlist", "they get paid , don't they"? etc, etc[i]

That response can be attributed to soldiers who sue the MOD for injuries sustained during battle.

Sometimes the MOD is at fault (poorly equipped service personnel etc).

If an Afghan interpreter is injured whilst carrying out his or her duties, then the same conslusion would be valid.

However this situation is not comparable. Once their tour of duty concludes, soldiers return to a place of relative safety. The interpreters would have had no idea that the situation in Afghanistan would be this unstable at the 'end' of the conflict.
AOG

Isn't it strange that the Daily Mail commentator you quoted referred to benefits for the Afghans.

I wonder what they know that we don't???
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My later post regarding the sniper soldier who was awarded £100k for being driven into hiding after MoD blew his cover because he and his family were at risk of kidnapping by Al Qaeda sympathisers, got me to thinking how safe will these Afghan interpreters be in this country, from some of those who we already have already invited into the country?



No idea. No-one is ever 100% safe. I don't see how it can possibly be any less safe in the UK than in Afghanistan, or even Iraq, at the moment.
"I wonder what they know that we don't??? "

that a fair proportion of them and their families will get benefits, obvious to most people except you of course..naturally
Question Author
LazyGun

/// You claim pride in your country but you would begrudge the same recognition and recompense that other countries are only to happy to
offer? ///

They were not doing us any favours, they were paid and are we not there at our own expense, (and a very costly one at that) protecting them and their fellow countrymen from the Taliban?

/// Maybe next time before we go into a foreign invasion ///

Not that old chestnut again, it was no invasion otherwise the whole country would be fighting us, instead of just the Taliban who we were invited in by the Afghan government, to rid their country of them.
I'm not one for quoting, but the Downing Street "source" seems to answer your question pretty well in my view, and I imagine they will have more say in the matter than you AOG.

"...we should not turn our backs on those who have trod the same path as our soldiers in Helmand, consistently putting their lives at risk to help our troops achieve their mission.

‘We should recognise the service given by those who have regularly put themselves in real danger while working for us.....These proposals give them a choice: the opportunity to go on working in Afghanistan, learning new skills and to go on rebuilding their country or to come and make a new start in Britain.’

Enough said?
@AoG It might not seem an invasion to you, AoG - but it most certainly did to a sizeable proportion of the population ,regardless of whether we were invited in or not.

The fact remains - it was a foreign military adventure with a not especially explicit campaign goal or exit strategy. Incidental costs need to be factored in.

And regardless of whether they were doing us a favour or not - local translators are absolutely vital to the mission at hand, and consequently develop a high profile and high target asset value.

We might have gone it at our own expense but it was perceived as being in our own countries best defence. We hardly went in out the goodness of our own hearts.

If that is the cost of waging war or police campaigns, then so be it.And we are supposed to be a country that values fairness and justice. Those are values worth having - not knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing....
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triggerhippy

/// These people risk everything and all you are bothered about is money. ///

Apparently they were, why else would they wish to support us, they certainly wouldn't have done it for free just because they liked us so much/

And are you naive enough to think it is just about money? Take a look at the 'Big Picture' it is also about housing, education of their children, jobs, further strain on our NHS etc. and a magnet for further terrorist attacks in this country.
"Apparently they were, why else would they wish to support us, they certainly wouldn't have done it for free just because they liked us so much/"

Perhaps they don't want the Taliban to return. Given that they are English speakers, they are probably more in touch with Western values than your average Afghan.

"They were not doing us any favours, they were paid "

As are our own soldiers. These people have served the objectives of our armed forces just as well as any indigenous soldier. They have earned the same rights.
Do you honestly think thatched interpreters had in the back of their mind an opportunity to move to the UK for all the lovely free housing and benefits when they took the job on???

I doubt that many will actually take the opportunity, many Afghans are committed to investing in their country and their children's future.
Eccles: I think that largely depends on what happens to Afghanistan after we leave.

If the Taliban regain control of the country, I'm pretty sure that anyone with a known proficiency in English will want to flee the country as fast as they can.
The ANA and Police are largely in control now, we are offering a supporting role.

The transition is well underway and (admittedly the more urbane Afghanis) appreciate what has been achieved and want to build on it for the future.

There will undoubtedly be a wobble in the country after the withdrawal, but they are currently standing on their own two feet more or less. And the younger Afghans do want a more stable future and with the help of the UN schools across the country there is a brighter future for them.
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Kromovaracun

/// I'm afraid the two situations aren't quite the same. ///

No and they will never be, especially when it comes to supporting one's own countrymen it's armed forces and police, especially when it comes to a choice by some on AB. between them and foreigners,

/// Now, we have explained why our response to this case is what it is. Please explain why you are willing to offer nothing but uncritical adulation to our forces, yet unwilling to offer the same respect for the efforts of these interpreters. ///

I never said that I didn't, only that I do not wish them and their families coming to our already overcrowded country, just because they took the opportunity of us being out there protecting their country, so as to gain paid employment.

They knew the risks when they took the job a few years ago, now we have made their country 'safe' (tongue firmly in my cheek) they should not seek to scurry off and leave their fellow countrymen to their own devices, they should be joining them at rebuilding their own country.
That makes it sound like a calculated, opportunist ploy to get into this country. I don't think anyone can seriously believe that was their intention.

Regardless of whether or not you wish it, some are now coming. I hope you won't make them feel too unwelcome.
"now we have made their country 'safe' (tongue firmly in my cheek)"

So you're actually aware that the country is unstable, and that these men are likely in danger?

"they should not seek to scurry off and leave their fellow countrymen to their own devices, they should be joining them at rebuilding their own country."

Who are you to tell them what to do?

As you've admitted, these men are likely in danger due to the very fact that they have served with our troops and the fact that they speak English. Why shouldn't they have the same rights? What do you suppose would be the attitude of a soldier who has actually served with this people and relied on them in the field?
They are not looking to scurry off......they are being given an opportunity to relocate should they wish to.

Some may come here and learn about policy and planning in (paid roles) and take those skills back to Afghanistan when they feel the time is right.

Some might choose to open restaurants in the UK and feed me mantou whenever I fancy it, something which In look forward to.

Why do you seem to view 'Johnny Foreigner' as a resource sapping scrounger AOG?
-- answer removed --
/They knew the risks when they took the job a few years ago, now we have made their country 'safe' (tongue firmly in my cheek) they should not seek to scurry off and leave their fellow countrymen to their own devices, they should be joining them at rebuilding their own country/

aog

i can only think of one word to describe that:

DESPICABLE

an ex school friend of my son's served as a junior officer in Afghanistan and when I discussed this issue with him last year he said he would be 'ashamed' and 'disgusted' if the interpreters he had relied on in some very dicey situations were 'left behind' when we /scurry off/

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