Afghan commandos who fought alongside British forces were denied asylum
\n LONDON
\nUK Special Forces (UKSF) have rejected over 2,000 asylum claims from Afghan commandos who had credible evidence of serving alongside British forces in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.
\nThe MoD revealed that no applications from members of the Afghan \u2018Triples\u2019 units, which supported the SAS and SBS in Afghanistan, were approved for resettlement, despite the dangerous conditions they faced after the Taliban took control of the country in 2021.
\nThe Triples \u2013 Afghan special forces units trained and paid by UK Special Forces \u2013 fought alongside British troops on high-risk missions.
\nWhen the Taliban regained power, many were at grave risk of reprisal, and they were entitled to apply for resettlement to the UK.
\nHowever, UK Special Forces blocked all resettlement applications despite the fact that the Afghan commandos had shown credible proof of their service.
\nThe MoD had previously denied the existence of a blanket policy to reject these applications, but subsequent court hearings confirmed that no resettlement applications from the Triples were supported by UKSF.
\nIn court proceedings, it was revealed that the MoD knew that the rejections made by UKSF were potentially flawed and would need independent review.
\nHowever, many Afghan commandos are still waiting for decisions, and some have been killed or tortured by the Taliban while waiting for responses.
\nThe rejections are controversial, particularly given that UK Special Forces are currently under investigation for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, with the Triples potentially holding crucial evidence related to these claims.
\nMPs and former British officers have criticised the decision, with some alleging that UKSF blocked the applications to prevent former Afghan commandos from providing evidence to the inquiry.
\nFormer Conservative MP Johnny Mercer, who served alongside the SBS, noted that there was a pool of evidence among Afghan commandos that could contribute to the inquiry.
\nDespite the delays and rejections, the MoD is conducting a review of the 2,022 applications, but this process has been plagued by lengthy delays and a lack of clarity on the review criteria.
\nLawyers representing the Afghan commandos have launched a legal challenge to force the MoD to disclose more information regarding the decision-making process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Afghan commandos who fought alongside British forces were denied asylum LONDON UK Special Forces (UKSF) have rejected over 2,000 asylum claims from Afghan commandos who had credible evidence of serving alongside British forces in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed. The MoD revealed that no applications from members of the Afghan \u2018Triples\u2019 units, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-462209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n