After Australia closely followed the pace of the US "big brother" and announced that it would withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, a group of people who had helped the Australian troops in Afghanistan to do translations were now panicked. They are worried that they will be killed by the Taliban after the withdrawal of Australian troops, so they have recently urged the Australian government to provide them with emergency humanitarian visas.
Unlike the United States, which brings its own translations from home, Australia is a hired Afghan native. According to the British media "Guardian" reported on April 23, in January this year, 41 interpreters sent letters to the Australian Department of Home Affairs and Immigration through the Australian Embassy in Jordan. After Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the decision to withdraw troops, they sent another letter on April 19.
In the letter sent in April, the translators detailed a "terrible threat," claiming that "targeted killing rates are growing exponentially across Afghanistan."
Screenshot of the Guardian report
The letter mentions that the translators were working for the Australian Defence Forces at Camp Qargha, a national military facility near kabul, the Afghan capital.
"About 300 translators and their families have been killed since 2016," the letter said, adding, "At the beginning of 2021, we lost two translators, both of whom assisted foreign militaries in their translation and interpretation efforts based on local media reports."
The report claims that these civilian translators were involved in all aspects of the war in Afghanistan, from raids to regional summits. A translator in Afghanistan said the lives of his colleagues had been targeted by rebel groups and Taliban forces. "Just this week another interpreter was killed, and every week we were targeted for the performance of our duties."
The translator described them as "the eyes and ears of the Australians", but now they are seen as enemies. "Most of us are not working right now because all coalition forces are withdrawing."
The translators all applied for a humanitarian visa from Australia that would provide resettlement for the Afghan employees. However, after the outbreak of covid-19 last year, all humanitarian visas in Australia were suspended, which made these translators even more anxious.
In their letter, they called for "our sincere request to the Australian Government to treat us with exceptional circumstances, reconsider and expedite our visa applications" in view of the "extreme threats" we are currently facing.
Hassan (center) and the coalition forces in Afghanistan Picture from The Guardian
One interpreter complained that the visa application was too long. He said he submitted his visa application in 2014 but did not receive a response many years later, and was not assessed as qualified until May 2020. He will then need to pass a medical examination and obtain his family's permission to go to Australia before he can leave Afghanistan by September this year.
Another translator, known as Hassan, was granted the highest level of security clearance for the interpreters while working with the Australian Army between 2010 and 2014, allowing him to live with soldiers on the base. Although the Australian Ministry of Defence assessed hassan to be eligible for the application, he was denied a visa because he did not pass the personality test. For eight years, Hassan has been asking the Australian government to reconsider his visa application.
Hassan said he and his colleagues might not have had a way out if they hadn't taken a plane with the Australians in September. He claimed that "the Taliban already control the road to the airport, without the Australian Defence Force, how can I get out?" "I can't leave my home, I can't send my kids to school... I lived like a prisoner, like I was in prison. ”
Captain Bruce Campbell, a retired special forces officer who was sent to Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, believes the lack of interest and sympathy for the translations is due to the fact that most of the translations used in the United States are brought from the United States and are Pashto-speaking American citizens, while Australia is hired locals.
Campbell said the translations were crucial to the work of the Australian Army in Afghanistan, "they are with us and they must be transferred before the deadline is reached". Campbell also blamed, "We have a moral responsibility to them, and unfortunately, the Australian side has been doing very badly in this regard." ”
Although Australian Commonwealth Immigration Minister Alex Hawke did not answer specific questions about the number of translators involved in Afghanistan and what kind of support they would receive after the Australian troops withdrew. But a spokesman for the department said in a statement that visa applications for certified local employees in humanitarian programs receive the highest priority. However, the statement also stressed that applicants must still meet strict health, character and national security requirements.
After nearly 20 years of fighting in Afghanistan, and at a cost of $2 trillion, the United States announced on the 14th of this month that it would withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by May 1 this year, and that the full withdrawal would be completed by September 11.
Subsequently, Australia and NATO announced that they would follow suit. Australian Prime Minister Morrison announced on the 15th that Australia's 80 defense personnel in Afghanistan will be withdrawn from Afghanistan in September 2021. NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg also announced on the same day that about 7,000 NATO coalition soldiers would be withdrawn at the same time.
The War in Afghanistan is the longest-running war in the history of the United States and Australia. Since 2001, Australia has deployed some 39,000 troops and 41 people to Afghanistan, costing about $10 billion.
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