Amnesty award for interpreter series

The Iraqi interpreter tugged urgently at my sleeve as I was watching a group of British soldiers train Iraqi recruits at a base in southern Iraq.
“Please, can you help us?” he asked. I looked at him, puzzled. He continued: “The Danish are flying their interpreters back to Denmark where they will be safe. Our lives are also in danger because we work for the British. What is the British Government going to do for us?”
I did not have a clue what he was talking about and, to be honest, was slightly irked at being distracted from my work. Fortunately, the interpreter persisted, telling me how a colleague had been gunned down weeks earlier by Shia militiamen who regard any Iraqi working for the British military a traitor who deserves to die. He was one of many to be killed.
This brief conversation led to The Times highlighting the plight of Iraqi interpreters who worked for the British military. The series prompted the Government to devise a new policy to offer financial assistance or asylum to its Iraqi staff, both former and current.
Last night, I received an Amnesty International award for this series – a great honour and very exciting. However, it remains a sorry fact that eight months after the aid package was announced most of the Iraqi interpreters who took the asylum option are still waiting for a plane ticket to Britain.
The first interpreter who approached me last July, opened my eyes to how people who risked their life to work alongside British soldiers were being targeted by militants as a result of their job, with no means of escape.
He introduced me to three other colleagues, each with stories to tell of intimidation, fear and despair, particularly in the wake of a decision by Denmark to airlift any Iraqi who had worked for its military to safety.
They all implored me to help. I remember looking at them and thinking, what the hell can I do? Will writing about this really prompt anyone in power to act?

The Times gave the story full prominence, splashing it across the front page, and backing up the message with a leading article and an opinion piece. The campaign did not end on one day. Instead the newspaper published a slew of stories highlighting the suffering of the interpreters.
In response, the Government announced a review of its policy towards locally employed staff. In October, two months after the first Times article appeared, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, outlined a new policy to offer assistance to interpreters and other Iraqis who had worked for Britain’s military or a Government department. We had won, or so it seemed.
I remember jumping up and down on three battered sofas in my office in excitement at the news. After reading the small print, however, it became apparent that the British assistance was extremely limited. There would be no mass airlifting of all interpreters and their families, Denmark-style.
The Government, after much deliberation, had opted against creating an open door policy for any Iraqi it employed to travel to Britain for fear of setting a precedent for people in other conflict zones who want to escape.
Instead, former and current staff were offered the choice of either a cash payoff or asylum through a scheme run in coordination with the United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR). In addition, Iraqis who are still employed (most quit because of militia threats and also as Britain’s force-size shrank) are eligible to be flown directly to the UK. Only three have so far managed to navigate this complex option, others are waiting.
In the end, most people went for the money. British officials say this demonstrates that they see a future for themselves in Iraq. The Iraqis say that it is simply because the asylum route is prohibitively time-consuming and risky. Those who apply are not guaranteed to be accepted.
Eight months after the policy was announced, the interpreters who are trying for asylum are still waiting. These are intelligent people who just want to bring up their families in safety away from the threat of death squads. They believe that returning to southern Iraq is not an option even though the security situation has improved in recent weeks. “We’ll always be a target,” one said.
Adding to their woes, these Iraqis say that the publicity surrounding Britain’s promise of help heightened the threat of attack against them from militiamen.
As we reported last week, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4124673.ece, getting to Britain is not the end of the nightmare. The first three former Iraqi staff and their dependants to be flown out of Basra are living in fear in squalid tower blocs in Glasgow.
It remains to be seen where the next group will be relocated.

[Picture 1: An arm and a leg of the first Iraqi interpreter who spoke to me can be seen sticking out from behind the British officer;
Picture 2; Me looking shiny faced and very smiley after receiving the award;
Picture 3: A British soldier manning a look-out tower at Basra Palace last summer.]

Comments

Congratulation,you deserve it.

[John Slinger]

Dear Deborah,

Congratulations on your award. It was thoroughly deserved and you've highlighted the appalling way in which the British Government has dealt with these brave interpreters. The Times published a letter which I wrote about this on Monday - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article4143973.ece.

Best wishes and stay safe,

John Slinger

[Nick Hicks]

Deborah,

Congratulations on the award, and well done on bringing the issue to the fore; it needed attention (despite the "guidelines" that Whitehall attempted to put in place concerning the issue before your arrival). It was a good job I managed to persuade you that the trip to SLB wasn't going to be a waste of time!

[Boris]

Congratulations

[ASEEL R. RAHMA]

CONGRATULATIONS MS.DEBORAH,I WISH YOU ALL THE PRGRESS IN YOUR CAREER.
YOU DESERVE THE AWARD BECAUSE YOU ARE THE BEST WHO HIGHLIGHTED OUR CONTINOUUS SUFFERING WITH THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AGNORANCE.FINALLY
,YOU HARVEST WHAT YOU PLANT OF HARD WORKING,BUT TILL YET,WE GOT NOTHING AS A REWARD FOR SERVING THE BRITISH TROOPS.ALL THE LOVE TO YOU FROM THE IRAQI INTERPRETERS.

[Ned]

Congratulations and very richly deserved. The interpreters were grossly ignored by our idle and arrogant government and us military stuck in the middle had to be their apologists. Thank you for highlighting govt inaction and your work in iraq, and i hope the iraqis get a better life than a glasgow flat. Stay safe.

[Adrienne]

Makes you wonder talent with the keyboard was the only requirement to get an award like this.

[Vishal Jain]

Hi Deborah,

All the best my dear for this award.

[Vishal Jain]

Dear Deborah,

Congratulations on your award.I hope you r really derseve for this award.

Thanks
V Jain

[Saif Rahman]

I worked briefly as an interpreter for the coalition forces civil affairs division in Baghdad right after the fall of Saddam's regime, they did provide me with protection at the time but when interpreters were getting targeted I had to stop, I also had to carry on with my medical training as I used to be a medical student in Baghdad University back then. Right now I live in Glasgow and I am still waiting for my leave to remain, I left Iraq after me and my family received written death threats by militias who threatened to kidnap and kill us because we are wealthy sunnies and they claimed to collect money from people like us to fund insurgents, looking back, after all that happened I am glad I quit the interpreter job early on, otherwise I could have been killed because of it.

[John Hartley]

A little late in saying so, but many congratulations. A very important piece of journalism and a well deserved award.

[Niki Buchen]

Hi Deborah,

also from me congratulations to your award. I think more will follow ;-). It is a hard time in Irak and I am sure many guys don´t want to be there. Greetings, Niki