RAPAR

Manchester based Human Rights Organisation

Press Release For immediate release
Tuesday, September 20th 2016

AFGHAN INTERPRETERS FOR THE BRITISH ARMY FLED AFTER THREATS

FROM THE TALIBAN - AND ARE NOW SEEKING SAFETY IN THE UK

RAPAR working with leading lawyers to assist the two men who have spent
months trapped in the Calais Jungle
http://www.duncanlewis.co.uk/news/Calais_Update_Duncan_Lewis_continues_its_
work_on_behalf_of_Afghan_Interpreters_(7_September_2016).html#sthash.4LP55z
x5.tw66QDZa.dpbs

New petition calls for a halt to attempts to close the Camp saying that dismantling
the Jungle is not a solution https://www.change.org/p/amber-rudd-mp-stopdemolition-of-the-calais-jungle

RAPAR has teamed up with leading lawyers to work with two former Afghan interpreters
for the British Army who fled Afghanistan after being threatened by the Taliban and are
now stranded in the Calais Jungle.
Dr Rhetta Moran, of RAPAR, met the two men, Walid and Hamid, earlier this year when she
and a colleague were filming at the camp. She alerted Channel Four News to their story
and the filmed interview with the men has now been viewed 81,000 times on the C4 News
Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/vb.6622931938/10153556523541939/?
type=3&permPage=1
Human rights barrister Mark George of Garden Court North Chambers has been working
with RAPAR on the case. He said: These two young men risked their lives daily to help
British forces in Afghanistan. By assisting the British state, they also crossed a line which
means they can never again live in their own country for fear of reprisals. If fairness and
decency had any part to play, the British state would welcome these men into this country
in recognition of the service they provided to the UK.
Solicitor Lewis Kett, from the Public Law Team at Duncan Lewis, is liaising with RAPAR
and the men's solicitor in France to help them claim asylum in the UK. Lewis has already
had success with a similar case of an Afghan interpreter.
Lewis travelled to the Calais camp to meet the men. Walid and Hamid were labelled
traitors and infidels by the Taliban and received death threats. They fled their home
country and made a perilous journey across Europe to seek protection in the UK.
The men have lodged asylum claims in France and confirmation has been received from
British officials in Afghanistan that they worked for the British army in Helmand. Letters
from senior army officers have commended their efforts.
Lewis said: We are now working with the men's French lawyer to ask that the British and
French authorities agree to transfer their asylum claims to the UK. Given the sacrifice
these men made for the British effort in Afghanistan, we believe the UK not only has a
moral duty to them but is best placed to assess the risk they face on return.

At the Calais camp, Lewis found the population had increased to more than 9,000
occupants a rise of 30 per cent in the previous month alone. Resources are becoming
scarce and the French authorities' ban on building materials means it is impossible to
create clean, safe and stable accommodation. There are open sewers and no functioning
toilets or washing facilities at the camp
He added: The Taliban have stepped up their efforts to target and punish those who
helped coalition forces. Interpreters in particular are regarded by the Taliban as a high
priority target. These two men now find themselves living in dire and inhumane conditions
in the Calais 'Jungle' in the hope that the UK will agree to transfer their asylum claims
here.
RAPAR member Danny has known Walid and Hamid since February and says their living
conditions are worse now than they were six months ago. Food and water run out daily.
The number and size of the rats are disgusting. This is no condition for humans to live in.
The men find themselves in Calais because of the work they did for our armed forces: we
cannot abandon them.
Walid added: It's not easy to spend such a long time here. If you lived here for a few
months, then you would realise how hard it is.
Rhetta Moran said RAPAR stood alongside Walid and Hamid and all other camp residents.
We reject and counter the political inaction and racism that lie at the heart of the squalid
and dangerous conditions in the open sewer that is the Calais 'jungle' camp. All of the
people living there should be allowed to make their refugee claims in the country where
they want to be.
The charity Care4Calais has just launched a petition to save the Calais Jungle saying
that, despite the bad conditions, demolishing the tiny makeshift homes will only make
things worse. Refugees fleeing war and persecution will not stop travelling to Calais.
Dismantling the camp would lead to even more inhumane living conditions and the
emergence of other, smaller camps in northern France with no running water, showers,
toilets or medical facilities.

Ends

For more information:

Kath Grant
RAPAR
07758386208
kath.northernstories@gmail.com