ISLAMABAD: The United Kingdom (UK) is threatening an Afghan war veteran pilot who served alongside coalition forces against the Taliban in his country with deportation to Rwanda.
The unnamed former Afghan Air Force lieutenant arrived in the UK on a small boat that crossed the English Channel because, he argued, there were no safe ways for him to use.
The pilot added that he is one of many ex-service personnel from his country now facing deportation and that he and his colleagues have been “forgotten” by their allies.
The pilot, who flew over thirty combat missions against the Taliban, is currently being resided in a UK Home Office-administered hotel facility for asylum-seekers, where he was told via email that his application for asylum might be negatively affected because he travelled from his country via Italy, Switzerland and France, all of which are thought to be safe countries.
The email added that he also might be removable to Rwanda under the conditions of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership between the two countries.
UK government’s promise
He said that the UK government should keep the promise of friendship and cooperation that it has made and fulfill it.
The pilot added that the US and British troops had forgotten them. Afghan personnel worked with them and helped them like they were their brothers. They are not Taliban nor ISIS, so why are they leaving them like this? he questioned with dismay.
