Interpreter dismay at British rejection

Two other former interpreters are also dismayed at being denied access to the Government's assistance package because their contracts were "terminated for absence".
I.K. Salman, who has featured in an earlier blog, left his job and fled Iraq with his wife and two children after an armed gang turned up outside his house in Basra in March 2005.
“They [the British forces] must know very well that attending work after receiving the threat was going to be like a death sentence to me,” said the 43-year-old.
“When I informed one of the British officers about my resignation over the phone immediately after receiving the threat he never told me that I need to send them a written letter and he just accepted my resignation over the phone and said to me that he feels sorry to hear this.”
Mr Salman, who currently lives in Damascus, continued: “It’s not only my case it’s also the case with all the other interpreters who were threatened.
“I think the British Government was only trying, by making us fill these forms, to show the public and the media that they are going to help those people who served them in Iraq ... but then they put this sophisticated criteria just so none of us or maybe only a handful of interpreters will be eligible for this scheme.”

Mr Salman felt that the Government was trying to quote from Rod Stewart's hit 'Tonight's The Night' in which the singer and songwriter sings: "Stay away from my window, stay away from my back door too."
The former interpreter said: "Unfortunately, I don't have the choice to stay away. Within a very few months, I, forcibly, have to take my family back to Iraq and face our brutal destiny.
“I really can't tolerate even the idea of going back, although I am not a coward. I can face death on my own, but I don't want my kids to face the same destiny or have the feeling of disgrace that their father was killed because he was working as an interpreter with the British Army."
A second interpreter who quit in July after receiving two warnings from the militia was similarly upset at being refused help.
"It is a disaster for me because I spent three years working for the British forces. This has affected my life in a bad way. I am not safe. Somebody is looking to hurt me and my family," said the 30-year-old who has moved with his parents, wife and 13-month-old son to Nasiriyah from Basra because of the threat.
He tried to contact the British military to let them know that he would not be coming back to work but said that nobody answered when he rang the various telephone numbers he had been given.
In addition, he said it was too difficult to visit the airport base in Basra where the British troops are headquartered to hand in his notice in person.
"Also I did not have any email address to send a message," he told The Times.
Not everyone is disappointed with the British Government, however. One 29-year-old former interpreter living in hiding in Basra received an email this week confirming that he is eligible for the assistance.
“I feel okay,” he said after reading the statement, which requires him to fill in another form to apply for a place on a resettlement programme – a process that is not guaranteed because of limited space and will take several months.
The former interpreter, who also did not send in a formal resignation letter when he left his job following militia intimidation, did not know why he had been accepted where others had failed.

[Picture: The elbow of an Iraqi interpreter in Basra juts out from behind a British soldier]

Comments

[redandover60]

It is ridiculous, what difference does it make letting a few more into our country? Any criminal, rapist or murderering scum can come to this country and stay here but they get selective when it is someone who has helped us like the Ghurkas and now these interpreters.

[Aimen]

I know some of these Iraq soldiers in pic.
when someone left his job for security reasons, he will not think of write a leeter of resignation and hand it personally to his OC in Basrah Air Station because this will be his last trip.
Authorities need to be more fear and think wisely before refusing any one.
I personally have not received any answer yet and it might be for the same reason

[democritus]

If you feel strongly about this issue, please write to your MP.
I assure you it will make a difference, and currently, for these Interpreters, there is everything to play for...........but not for long......

[mamaliontx]

What is happening to these people is wrong. Even I know that you can't always let someone know you can't make an appointment. These people are in fear of their life and the life of their family and loved ones. And they are going to be told you don't get what you are promised because they had to flee at the last moment without letting the powers that be know what was going on. This is wrong.

[Joseph]

We seem to worry about the human rights of criminals, but not the human rights of those who have risked their lives for our soldiers.

[weetruffle]

Any foreign national should know better than to rely on the British to be true to their word. Once you have served your purpose, you will be discarded.

[will]

Don't write comments here, write to your MP. Remember, these guys are helping British soldiers stay safe at the risk of their own lives and those of their family! Please help!

[GHF]

What are the British going to do the next time they want interpreters?

[roger jones]

isn't it typical of how this shoddy government operates? They reject genuine asylum seekers yet accept the world and his wife whether legal or not.

[george]

Can they go work for the US troops?

[Gordon Stevenson]

This is just history repeating itself over and over again. Remember how the Americans abandoned the Southern Vietnamese during the fall of Siagon, how even recently the British Gurkas had to fight through courts to receieve the same basic rights as other British soldiers and now this. Should we really be surprised. Its seems crazy we can accept Polish people to live in our country by the tens of thousand, but but these brave interpretors who have risked not only their own lives, but also that of their families. Disgracefull. Gordon Brown - are you reading.

[follytowers]

I am not a supporter of the current trend in immigration to this country, but having said that I will add that these people MUST be allowed to come here. They have helped us, risking their lives to do so, and now we must help them.
Besides - after ruining their country for them, do we not owe it to them anyway?

[Brian H]

Roger;
Same deal with the US; a small opening for a large flow. IMO, a character reference from a theatre commanding officer should be sufficient for any of the "terps". As others have pointed out, the quantity is minute by total immigration standards, and you'd go a long way to find any who have contributed as much in advance for entry.