'I will be killed': Afghan aid workers left stranded by UK government

Afghans who worked on development projects funded by the United Kingdom are struggling to receive support from the government, and their employers say there is little they can do to help.

Many are believed to be at risk of reprisals from the Taliban, who often view them as collaborators. One man told Devex he is in hiding after the Taliban seized his old employment records, created when he began working on a U.K.-funded project.

He hasn’t received a response to a request for resettlement from the U.K. government, he said, adding that his former employer “is not helping” and that if he cannot get to the U.K., “I will [lose] my life.”

“I have been told ... that Taliban and some ISIS members are chasing me and they have been [asking] about my living address. So I am hiding ... because if they catch me, I will be killed,” he wrote in a message.

One organization that ran operations in Afghanistan, Adam Smith International, told Devex that “some of our staff and their families have already been the victims of horrific acts of violence” as it pleads with the government to provide support.

Precise data on how many Afghan development workers are at risk is unavailable, but campaigners fear they could number in the thousands.

The U.K.’s new evacuation program, the Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme, is not yet operational, and there is no indication of when it will open or if it will prioritize those who worked on U.K. aid-funded projects.

“Unfortunately, the scope of the ... [ACRS] appears too narrow to properly fulfill our obligations to the many implementing contractors who delivered the aid program and our Afghan government or civil society partners who are now stuck in Afghanistan,” said Laure-Hélène Piron, a former U.K. government official who led a development team for the British Embassy in Kabul and recruited Afghans to work on aid programs. She described the resettlement scheme as “needlessly complex.”

Piron is part of an informal grouping of dozens of former officials with links to Afghanistan who are trying to help their former colleagues and lobby for an international response to the humanitarian crisis emerging in the country. Piron said they have received “hundreds” of requests for help since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August.

Referring to a U.K. policy to evacuate only those directly employed by the government, rather than subcontractors, Piron said: “The Taliban do not see the difference between Afghan civilians who worked with us, and those who were directly employed by the British government, and nor should we.”

The man who spoke to Devex worked for a year for development contractor GRM International before the company became part of Palladium, another contractor. He contacted his former manager — who is now retired — asking for help, and was put in contact with a Palladium human resources employee, who provided him with a letter.

“Having worked for a foreign company, [the man] fears for the safety of himself as well as his family. We would appreciate your support to provide all necessary assistance to [the man] and his family and for you [to] grant safe passage to the United Kingdom or any other destination of safety,” the letter reads.

The man asked the HR staff member for guidance on the U.K.’s immigration processes but was told that “we don’t connect with the U.K. government on that nor say on visa processes” and to “find out from [the] British government’s website how to apply for an immigrant visa and the procedures.”

He told Devex that “Palladium International is not helping and support[ing] me. If UK government do not help me I do not have any other choice, so I will stay here and I will [lose] my life.”

The Palladium employee who handled his case told Devex: “At the moment, all we can do is to provide employment reference letters. We don’t have any saying or influence on the U.K. government’s immigration visa decisions. The management looked into this, but there is not much we can offer, unfortunately.”

Daniel Pimlott, director of ASI, said the organization also “has many former staff in Afghanistan who are at risk of persecution or harm because of their work on U.K. funded projects ... We continue to encourage the U.K. government to provide support to Afghans who worked on their projects, however at present, there is no clear route for them to be resettled in the U.K.”

The U.K. aims to accept up to 5,000 Afghans this year via ACRS and a total of 20,000 over five years. It will “prioritize those who have assisted the U.K. efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for values such as democracy, women’s rights, and freedom of speech, rule of law as well as vulnerable people, including women and girls at risk and members of minority groups,” a Home Office spokesperson said.

According to a Sept. 13 policy document, an NGO-focused element of ACRS “will seek to ensure we provide protection for members of Afghan civil society who supported the U.K. and international community effort in Afghanistan ... We will need some time to work through the details of this process, which depends on the situation in Afghanistan.” Referrals to ACRS will also be made by the United Nations Refugee Agency. 

However, advocates say the system is complex, with many places already filled, and that they have not yet had a clear answer on how aid workers will be included.