'I don't want my kids to watch me slaughtered like a useless sheep'

Scared, alone and in fear of their life, scores of Iraqi interpreters who worked for the British Army have been in touch with The Times since the newspaper launched a campaign in August to highlight their plight.
Here are some extracts from emails and telephone conversations that offer an insight into the world of these people, many of whom live each day like fugitives, terrified of being found by militiamen, tortured and killed.
Mr I.K. Salman left his job as an interpreter in March 2005 after gunmen raided his house in Basra. He moved his family to Syria, hoping to gain refugee status and be resettled elsewhere. Mr Salman is still waiting for help.
“I worked with full loyalty for the British Army, risked my life and my family’s lives. Now I found myself forced to leave my own country, brutally cut from my roots. I have lost my career and finally here I am neglected in Syria, jobless and within a few months [when the money runs out] homeless,” he said.
“Believe me, it would be better to be beheaded in my own country than have the feeling that I have been cheated like a useless idiot. The only thing that stops me from going back to Iraq is my family. I don’t want my kids to watch their father slaughtered like a useless sheep.”
Mr Salman believes that an offer from Britain of financial compensation will not be enough to secure his family’s future away from the threat of militia death squads. Similarly the option of entering a special refugee programme will also not be a quick fix as the process is long and the outcome uncertain.
“We all do believe that money, whatever the amount will be, or resettlement in Iraq will not protect me or my family from facing a callous end,” the 43-year-old wrote in an email.
“All I want from the British Government is to have the option of ‘exceptional leave to remain’ in the UK.
“I don't want to be a heavy burden on the British economy and community; I'm a well qualified translator, an English language teacher and I can work there to earn my living and cover the household expenses. I do believe that I deserve what I'm looking for and my kids deserve a better future than having their father's body lying in the rubbish like a scabby dog.”
The father-of-two added: “If I am given the desired option to leave to the UK, if will be like a rescue operation for me and my little family.”

Ammar, another former interpreter living in Damascus, is feeling similarly helpless. He worked for six months as an interpreter before being forced to quit earlier this year after his father, also an interpreter, was murdered by a militant gang because of his job.
The 26-year-old qualified doctor, however, is not eligible to apply for help from Britain because the Government stipulated that only those Iraqis who worked for the military or a Government department for a continuous 12-month period since the start of 2005 are qualified.
Even the fact that his wife, an Iraqi with British citizenship, is living alone in London and is six months pregnant with his child has not helped his cause.
"The regulations do not take [into consideration] the humanitarian aspect and the damages that the interpreters and their families sustained,” said Ammar.
“It is not the period of service that should qualify the applicants but the threats they face and the degree of damage and loss that they have sustained.”
He continued: “This scheme will help segments of people and leave many facing their fate with the militia.
“I helped the British forces and as common sense regardless of the period of time that I served they should help me.
Enhancing his claim to travel to Britain, Ammar’s wife Sarah took advantage of having a UK passport to move to London in July 2006 to escape the violence in Basra.
“My case is not so complicated,” said Ammar.
“My wife is already there, I am professionally qualified. Also I will help the community and not be a burden on the society.
“I ask her majesty the Queen of Great Britain and his excellency the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Foreign and Commonwealth office secretary to help me and respond to my desperate inquiry.”
Former interpreters trapped in Iraq live an even more miserable and threatened existence than those who had the funds to move to a neighbouring country such as Syria or Jordan.
Such an option is becoming increasingly difficult because the two countries have tightened their entry restrictions to Iraqi refugees.
Ali, a 29-year-old interpreter living in hiding at relatives’ houses in and around Basra, believes the Government’s offer of assistance to be resettled in Britain through a special refugee programme is flawed because it is almost impossible for travel to a third country to qualify for the help in the first place.
“The asylum is like a game. It is not real,” said Ali, who believes that London’s pledge was merely a gesture designed to pacify those who had been rallying on behalf of the interpreters.
“We are under threat right now. The militia is looking for us. They [the Government] just wanted to make the press and all the voices that supported us calm down. They want the British people to forget our matter, forget the interpreters. I don’t know why.”
He added: “For former interpreters living in Iraq … there is no way to get asylum. You need to travel to Jordan or Syria and this is very difficult, too difficult for us. I do not know why they make it difficult. They seem to try their best to make this matter difficult for us. That means that really they do not want for us to get asylum.”
Another former interpreter also living a fugitive’s existence in Basra is still holding out hope that his dream of going to Britain will come true.
The 29-year-old said: “The British Government has to put its decision into action and speed up the procedure of moving us from Iraq to the UK as soon as possible. Any delay means that more interpreters will die.”

(Picture: An interpreter, wearing a floppy hat, watches as British soldiers give Iraqi troops a shooting lesson)

Comments

[Ralph]

Hi Debbie,

Your present work is a long way from all those years ago on IP Asia.

The blog is terrific.

See you when you're next back.

Ralph

[Aimen]

I am a former Interpreter for British Forces. I left Basrah to Jordan after militiamen have attacked my house saying that I am betraying my country by working for the British. I contacted the British Embassy in Amman and they told me that they only do commercial business and have nothing to do with the asylum cases. My family is in Basrah now, they tried to come to Jordan but the Authorities refused to let them enter Jordan. I only filled the form that published in the website of FCO and MoD, put the names of my family members in it on 5 Nov 2007, and haven't receive any response yet. I have no idea ho I can obtain a visa to my family while they are in Iraq and desperately in need for my help because my father is disabled and mother has ovum cancer and siblings are younger than me.
I am asking the FCO to establish an easier procedure and do not make it too difficult to us to apply for the resettlement in the UK.

[Michael Thomas]

If you help our troops you are in mortal danger. If you help yourself)you're an illegal immigrant, economic migrant etc you are welcomed and on benefits while you arange for the rest of your extended family to come and suck on our misguided largesse. It's the government stoopid!

[Ali]

I’m one of the former Iraqi interpreters, I’m sure that the British government issued the option of the third country just to stop us to claim for asylum and turn to the option of financial compensation (the useless absurd option) as they know there is no way for us to travel to Syria or Jordan to claim for asylum and even if we get permission to travel, then we need to wait for months until we get an interview with the UNHCR with no certain to get asylum even if we could to wait for a years after the unlikely interview, that mean the British government cheated and in same time calmed down the media, Iraqi interpreters, and all of their supporters(inside Britain)
The British government don’t like us to get asylum in Britain (this is clearly the truth)
We all cheated (the Interpreters and the their British supporters) but we faced the hell here in Iraq (the half dead interpreters) we are panic, afraid, hidden, lost our careers and waiting for our miserable fate (we lost even our lives).

[I.K.Salman]

I just want to say that the Refugee Certificate issued by the UNHCR doesn't allow anybody who have it to stay in Syria. The only thing which keep anybody in Syria for the coming six months is to have one of the family members,very close one, studing in the Syrian schools.

[Louise Barry]

I am so mortified by the actions of this government (I'm loathe to call them mine, as nothing they do is representative of my wishes). Please can you tell us if there is anything we can do to actively help these people? I don't mean anything as futile as a Number Ten petition, but anything that might actually have a chance of changing policy, or improving the quality of life for these people the government has abandoned.

[Al-Tahir]

When i heard Mr.Brown speaking about us i said that ohh our struggle has finished,Is there any good men to stop this suffering please

[Nemo]

It is a terrible thing that anyone should be in fear of their life, but one thing I've learned in life is that one must take responsibility for their own misery. What was Mr. Salman thinking when he decided to place his loyalties with the military forces that illegally invaded his country? I cannot believe that he was so naive as to not realise that many of his countrymen would consider him a traitor. The allied forces that are illegally occupying his country have murdered hundreds of thousands of his countrymen. Did he think that the British government would care if he and his family died? Does he not realise that Western powers are in the Middle East to serve their own economic and political interests and not the interests of the people whose countries they occupy?
Of course I do not know the circumstances that led Mr. Salman to the decision to work for British. Perhaps he was in fear of his life before the invasion and turned to the British for protection. Perhaps he was simply envious of the Western way of life and was looking for passage to a Western nation. Whatever the reason, I cannot help but think that his decision to side with the British was ill-informed and irresponsible, especially because he has the safety of his family to consider.
Nevertheless, I would not like to be in Mr. Salman's shoes, and I hope that British government will do the right thing and give him and his family asylum in return for his services to them.

[ishtar]

Dear interpreters,

Why do you think the British government would trust people who betrayed their own country and people working with the occupiers?

Pls. post my comment, as it is the other side view.

[James Wong]

If you want asylum, make sure you touch the British soil. There, dozens of immigration lawyers would
be too pleased to help for your money. And if you can't pay, the British Government will foot the bill plus everything you, your four wives and ten kids want. Even if your case is not strong enough, no worry, just go under.Immigration people, under this New Labour, have not got any enthusiasm to track your family down and deport you lot. So It is not loyalty that counts, it's where yor are that really decides whether you swim or sink.

[abdullah]

I know will be killed, but it is my fault I deserve it for betraying my country.

[Keith]

You took the money without thinking through the consequences. Tough live with it.
Your personal greed got you into this let it get you out.

[tom, lancs, UK]

English people in general just don't seem to be moral or understanding of multi-cultural movement.
The 'war for oil' has been a disgrace and now our Iraqi allies have to flee their country.
Many people don't understand the difference between an immigrant and an asylum seeker. Generally an asylum seeker has had to flee a country through political prejudices. We have an obligation to help these people. They are well educated and have a general will to work, unlike the hordes of chavs on our estates.
Perhaps we could arrange an exchange, anyone in rockports and burbury who likes fighting at night; for all the decent, multi-lingual, skilled well-educated workers of Iraq.
I hate the typical English stereotypical views of nations. Like how after 60years all Germans are still seen as Nazis, what rubbish.
I am the only English person I know who can speak 2 fluent languages and doesn’t hold prejudices when travelling. Great change will come the day the English-speaking world grows up!
Patriotism shouldn't even enter this, it's our democracy which started this idea that Iraqi was a poorly governed state.

PS: ishtar educate yourself and get some morals before condeming good people to death.

Tom from Lancs,

You arent the only English person who can speak 2 other laguages fluently. I myself speak 3 languages fluently and can get around in 2 others. This is also typical of many of my friends. Times are changing and with all the possibilities of working abroad and the ease of travel in the EU languages are a necessity that help people understand each other.

[eve]

I'm ashamed of some of the replies here.
Those people have help the British army, they are no traitors to their own country.
Their country is at the mercy of the terrorists, and they chose to be on the other side, if we abandon them we are worse than their ennemies.
How can people be so cruel and unfair.

But of course we prefer the refugees from other countries, people who come and take. I think acting that way, Britain will have what it deserves.

--- don't think you'll ever publish this one -- I see terrible posts by people not moderate at all.

[ishtar]

OK Tom Lancs. I will try to educate myself. In the meantime, I suggest that you try to learn Chinese, so, if China ever thought of invading your country for the North Sea oil, you could be able to collaborate with the Chinese invaders, teaching them the best ways to get hold of your own people and resources.

This would be very MORAL. CONGRATULATION IN ADVANCE.

[ishtar]

Dear Eve the Naive ! The British army is an occupation army. They say so, the UN says so.

Whenever there is an accupation, there should be and would be a resistance.

If your own country was occupied, would you help the occupier against your own people? would you consider your people terrorists?

What terrorists? were there terrorists in Iraq before the invasion?

Read some history please and stop listening to Blair and Bush spin.

[Bill Keller]

This is a result of outsourcing what we as part of our investment in force structure need to do that is - Spend the $250K plus to train interperters within our military services. Without it we not only put foreigners at risk; but, we field forces that are deaf and therefore blind to the environment in which we deploy them.

[michael]

There is no such language as 'Chinese'. If you are going to spout pish, make sure it is proper pish.

[N Hall]

Dear Ishtar,

I must commend you on your apparent grasp of English, although you do appear to have learned the extremist version of our langauage, whiuch unfortunately tends to be a little heavy on rhetoric for my tastes. If as you surmise in your earlier posts it were just the Oil that we were after do you not think that [The Western Powers [of Oppression] [sic]" would have reduced your Country to a smoking hole in the ground; but maybe its not too late after all. If you use the word "Allah" in your response you will automatically forgo any goodwill that you may have built up within the misguided general population.

[Bill Keller]

Dear Deborah:

There has been efforts to replace translators with IBM donate equipment. Has this or any other machines had any impact in Iraq?

[C Henderson]

What a terrible predicament for both Britain and Iraqi interpreters.

This is the real human face of a tragedy that could have been predicted and averted.

Hopefully British leaders will be a little more cautious during future conflicts before wholeheartedly throwing their support behind a megalomaniacal despot's misguided crusade.

[Bradley]

You know, to hear people talk you would think that Saddam was this cuddly guy that all his people loved and should be rightfully angry that the nasty UK/US came in and removed him.

When, in reality, more people hated him in Iraq than anywhere else in the world. Lots did love him yes, but there are plenty so glad to be rid of him that joining UK forces is a natural thing to do. To call them a collaborator is like calling a German that helped the allies in rebuilding Germany after the war a 'traitor' - utterly ridiculous. Do people think he should have joined the insurgents and added more misery and killing?

Not saying US/UK governments should be proud of its involvement in the region or that our brand of remote killing is particularly honourable but the majority of killings in Iraq are between groups that have loathed each other for ages. Someone that helped a side that arguably had a better chance of bringing peace after the invasion should not be decried.

Alas, the UK has a long history of letting down people that support it, from the people of Hong Kong refused entry to Britain and back to the treatment of the sailors in Drakes fleet that saved us from invasion. We have a lot to be proud of, but a lot to be ashamed of.

Dear ISHTAR

I advise everyone who reads this article to to not discuss 'Ishtar' because this person has lost his humane and moral feeling .Of course this person either terrorist or one of Sadam's followers who are still weeping for the death of Alzarqaui and Sadam. The terror is represented by people like Ishtar .The Iraqi interpreters are not traitors .Those people didn't imagined they were going to be in this situation,also they worked to rebuild Iraq but what has happened is not expected .I want to send this message to every body ,the INTERPRETERS are not traitors and don't be misled by the bad people who just want to dicredit them (it's done by some bad people and misled's).

[Brian Clacey]

I sympathise, but my country's full up. These people didn't take on the work "to help our lads", as some people seem to fondly think, but for
1/ Money
2/ Because it suited them, and, perhaps
3/ Because they thought they were doing something to benefit their country (THEIR country, please note.)
They are educated, intelligent people, and therefore must have been well aware of the risks. They made some bad choices, which is neither my nor Britain's responsibility.