Former interpreter hits out at Dominic Raab over support for Afghan translators

The Foreign Secretary has been accused of “failing” to provide protection for the families of translators who helped British troops.
Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street in London (Isobel Frodsham/PA)
PA Wire
Ted Hennessey19 August 2021

A former interpreter has hit out at Dominic Raab for not making a phone call to get help with evacuating translators from Afghanistan.

The Foreign Secretary was reportedly “unavailable” to make a call to his counterpart in Afghanistan about offering support to interpreters while he was on holiday in Crete.

Mr Raab has been accused of “failing” to provide protection for the families of those who had helped British troops in the country.

A former translator, a British citizen who gave his name as Rafi, 35, told the PA news agency: “If he didn’t make the call, I’m shocked. How could somebody do something like that in this chaotic situation?

If he was too busy during his holidays to help, shame on him

Rafi, former translator

“The interpreters and their families could be killed at any time.

“I’m a British citizen; was he too busy to look after the families of British citizens in Afghanistan?

“He is failing to provide safety and protection to the families of those in Afghanistan who have served for the British Government in the war against terror.

“If he was too busy during his holidays to help, shame on him.”

The Daily Mail said Mr Raab was advised to call Afghan foreign minister Hanif Atmar on Friday – two days before the Taliban marched on Kabul – only for him to be “unavailable” while on holiday.

It claimed the Afghan Foreign Ministry then refused to arrange a call with a junior minister, pushing it back to the next day.

The Foreign Secretary was engaged on a range of other calls and this one was delegated to another minister

Foreign Office

The Foreign Office said: “The Foreign Secretary was engaged on a range of other calls and this one was delegated to another minister.”

Rafi, who was among those protesting at Parliament Square on Wednesday, has lived in the UK for nearly 11 years after helping to translate meetings and documents and conducting operations for British soldiers.

He said that people in Afghanistan are “living in fear” because of the Taliban, with reports members of the militant group are looking for interpreters who had helped the UK and its allies.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in