An Afghan particular forces veteran skilled within the UK who was left homeless after resettling right here following the Taliban takeover is pleading with the federal government to permit him and his former colleagues to hitch the British Military.
Main Noor Aziz Ahmadzai is considered one of greater than 1,400 Afghans and their households to have confronted homelessness since being given sanctuary in the UK after the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
Conservative former safety minister Tom Tugendhat has advised Sky Information the Ministry of Defence has “actually let itself down” in not enjoyable strict citizenship guidelines to benefit from the coaching and experience of Afghan exiles throughout a recruitment disaster within the British army.
Noor joined the particular police on the age of 16 and labored as a translator for the British earlier than becoming a member of the Afghan particular forces.
Main Noor Aziz Ahmadzai
He was picked to spend two-and-a-half years on the officer coaching programme at Sandhurst, the UK army academy.
In June 2015, he even gave a studying at a service of thanksgiving in St Paul’s Cathedral in entrance of the Queen.
He in the end rose to grow to be deputy commander of a specialist counter-terrorism unit, which responded to suicide assaults in Kabul and was among the many first on the scene of a whole lot of incidents, together with the murder of newborn babies and their mothers at a maternity clinic in Might 2020, and the Taliban siege of the Intercontinental Hotel in January 2018.
“The Intercontinental lodge is likely one of the most well-known motels in Kabul, they usually killed a whole lot of civilians there”, stated Noor.
“We had an order to reply to what was occurring… we have been joined by the British Military. We saved some diplomats and have been in a position to convey them out.
“I began there at 12 o’clock midnight, and continued until 12 o’clock within the afternoon, till we completed the enemy. I misplaced considered one of my troopers.
“He misplaced his life in my hug [in my arms].”
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Noor Aziz Ahmadzai at present
Escape from Afghanistan
When the Taliban took again management in August 2021, it was a nightmare for Noor and his colleagues.
“It was a black day for all Afghans who labored with different militaries,” he stated.
Noor was initially arrested at a Taliban checkpoint as a member of Afghan particular forces, however was launched after a commanding officer claimed – falsely – that he had give up three months earlier than.
He ran four-and-a-half miles dwelling with out footwear, his toes coated in blisters. His mom then took him to cover inside a water tank at his sister’s home in a single day, and he was rescued because of the intervention of a colleague from Sandhurst he contacted on Fb.
“There was an assault on my dwelling, they usually shot my relations,” Noor stated. “My colleague thought I used to be useless.
“After I messaged, he advised me he was crying that I used to be alive. He stated, ‘come to the airport at six within the morning’. Then I placed on ladies’s garments, because the Taliban have been stopping vehicles – however after they noticed a lady within the automotive, they would go away the automotive alone.
“I used a lady’s scarf on my head, and I went to the airport. He got here to the gate to get me. My mum simply pushed me. She stated, ‘get out of right here’, and so I did not hug her one final time.”
Noor grew emotional when speaking about his mom, whom he hasn’t seen since. Her request for asylum to hitch him within the UK was rejected, and he has solely hardly ever been in a position to communicate to her on the cellphone, given fears the Taliban are monitoring their calls.
Life within the UK
Noor is considered one of 37,218 Afghans dropped at the UK since August 2021 – their lives in danger at dwelling resulting from their hyperlinks with British forces.
However because the heat guarantees made by then-prime minister Boris Johnson after the Taliban takeover, the political scenario right here within the UK has grown fairly extra sophisticated.
The Afghan resettlement schemes have now closed to new candidates. Public attitudes have hardened amid rising numbers of asylum seekers, and a few 7,300 extra Afghans than anticipated have needed to come right here because of the highly damaging government data leak revealed over the summer season.
Whereas Afghans on the schemes have the proper to work and are supplied non permanent lodging for as much as 9 months, after that, for some, it has been a battle.
Over the previous 4 years, 1,405 households have reported themselves homeless to their native authorities.
At one level, Noor additionally ended up on the streets, however was taken in by a passing British veteran till he discovered work as a station safety guard.
Whereas he is very grateful to the UK for rescuing him and his colleagues, he now feels deserted by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
“We are going to always remember what the British Military did for us, they saved hundreds of lives and did a tremendous job,” he stated.
“However it’s arduous. My son, he’ll ask me, ‘Dad, you probably did 17 years in Afghan Particular Forces and what was your future while you got here again to the UK?’ Truthfully, I haven’t got any reply for him.
“We now have a whole lot of expertise right here, a whole lot of generals, colonels. They’re working in pizza outlets. They’re working for Uber. I am a counter-terrorism specialist. Now I am doing a safety job.
“The British Military, they spent plenty of cash on us. However now I do not know why the MoD are ignoring us.”
Noor and lots of different resettled Afghan veterans would really like to have the ability to use their expertise within the British army.
However whereas they have been given indefinite go away to stay, they may solely grow to be eligible to use for the military after changing into British residents – which may’t occur till they’ve lived right here for a minimum of 5 years.
‘Vastly expert and extremely motivated’
Mr Tugendhat, the MP for Tonbridge, says it is a waste that they have not been in a position to enroll right away.
Tom Tugendhat
“We ought to be getting these folks into our armed forces,” he stated. “They’re massively expert, they’re extremely motivated, and we all know they’re loyal as a result of they’ve proved their loyalty within the hardest and most harmful conditions.
“So getting them into our armed forces could be good for us. It could even be good for them. It could give them, fairly rightly, the position that they need to have in our society.
“That is one thing that ought to have been delivered on the time and ought to be delivered now. It has been neglected for too lengthy.
“There are some exceptionally proficient folks, a lot of whom I both skilled alongside or fought alongside for a number of years in Afghanistan, and albeit, the MoD has actually let itself down on this.”
Regardless of an period of rising worldwide risk, the army is fighting recruitment and retention. 500 extra personnel left the armed forces this yr than joined – an enchancment on latest years, however nonetheless not sufficient to cease the shrinkage.
‘An Afghan unit could be admitting defeat’
However army specialists say making a Gurkha-style unit of Afghan veterans could be sophisticated.
“There will likely be vital safety implications – which will be labored via, however it could take time,” stated Ed Arnold, a senior analysis fellow on the Royal United Providers Institute (RUSI).
“There have been safety incidents within the US dedicated by former Afghan forces. So from a threat perspective, I do not see the MoD could be too eager in the meanwhile.
“Secondly, there’s a enormous value implication to elevating whole items. They want a whole lot of help construction. And the place they combine, it is not really an easy factor to do. It may be executed, but it surely’s not straightforward.
“Thirdly, I believe that the political sign it exhibits is that we’re selecting to lift one other unit from the Afghans, as a result of we won’t get them from Britain ourselves – it is nearly admitting defeat.”
Ed Arnold warns ‘it is nearly admitting defeat’ to lift items from Afghans
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson stated: “This authorities has dedicated to making sure that each one Afghans who’ve relocated to the UK beneath the ARAP scheme are supported to construct their new lives.
“New arrivals on the Afghan Resettlement Programme are supplied with transitional lodging for as much as 9 months, throughout which era they obtain help to assist them safe their very own long-term lodging. The federal government can also be taking measures to minimise homelessness shows.
“Afghans who’ve been relocated beneath this scheme are entitled to work and might entry a spread of employment help. Those that receive British citizenship can apply for roles within the army, supplied they meet different essential standards together with age necessities, schooling specs and medical requirements.”
Noor is hoping to have the ability to return dwelling someday – however till then, he desires to make use of his hard-won expertise to assist his adopted nation.
“My message to the British Military is – maintain our proficient folks near you. Once you want us, we’re ready for the decision. We’ll stand with you shoulder to shoulder.”
