The UK government has announced that some Afghan special forces soldiers, previously denied resettlement in the UK despite having fought alongside British forces, will now be allowed to relocate. Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard confirmed that a review of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) had found that some applications were wrongly rejected due to poor record-keeping, and that 25% of these cases have already been overturned.
The soldiers in question were part of elite units, known as “the Triples” (CF333 and ATF444), which were trained, funded, and operated by the UK government during the war in Afghanistan. Following the Taliban takeover in 2021, thousands of these soldiers applied to resettle in the UK. However, around 2,000 were initially denied relocation under ARAP, based on the claim that they were not directly employed by the UK government. These rejections came despite the soldiers having fought side-by-side with British troops.
A joint investigation by The Independent, Lighthouse Reports, and Sky News, as well as campaigning by MPs, revealed that many of the Triples had, in fact, been paid directly by the UK government. This new evidence contradicted previous government claims. Pollard told Parliament on Monday that officials had discovered proof of payments, demonstrating a direct employment relationship for some soldiers, which had been “overlooked” during the initial resettlement applications.
Pollard attributed these errors to a “failure to access and share the right digital records” and issues with information flow across government departments. He emphasized that the mistakes were not made with “malicious intent” but resulted from system failures under the previous administration.
Pollard acknowledged that many Triples were not evacuated during the fall of Kabul in 2021, despite their close ties to British forces. He assured Parliament that the government is moving quickly to rectify past mistakes and relocate eligible soldiers. However, he clarified that not all Triples would automatically be eligible for resettlement, as applications continue to be reassessed. Some members of the Triples have reportedly been killed by the Taliban since the UK withdrawal.
The findings from the review revealed that, in some cases, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had failed to consider evidence submitted by the Afghans, which documented their employment and collaboration with UK forces.
Shadow Veterans Minister Andrew Bowie welcomed the government’s commitment to reviewing the resettlement cases and stressed the importance of resolving these “highly sensitive applications” fairly and quickly. Labour MP Louise Jones also asked whether other Afghan units that worked closely with British troops, but were not part of CF333 or ATF444, would be considered in the review. Pollard confirmed that these units would also be examined.
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