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Former minister Rory Stewart called the case "disgraceful" while General Sir Richard Barrons said the evacuation from Afghanistan had been a "disaster". Senior military, political and diplomatic leaders have joined a growing group of supporters calling on Rishi Sunak to prevent an Afghan war hero from being deported to Rwanda. Sunak promised to review his situation and on Monday asked the Interior Ministry to investigate the pilot's situation.
As anger mounted, a former cabinet minister called the case "disgraceful" while senior military officials warned that the Afghan air force veteran would have faced retaliation, including death, had he not escaped. came as:
- Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has been repeatedly questioned over the controversy.
- former defense minister Kevan Jones described the situation as "a stain on Britain's great reputation"
- The UK ambassador to Afghanistan warned when Kabul fell that many British soldiers "owe their lives to the Afghans who fought alongside them".
Former International Development Secretary Rory Stewart said the pilot story was "deeply shocking" because it went directly against promises made to those in Afghanistan.
“We are shirking our responsibilities to the Afghans who risked their lives to fight alongside us and are now risking their lives.
Britain has a double responsibility, he said, because “the asylum system exists precisely to protect people fleeing persecution… It's just shameful. We can and must do much better: our civilization will be judged by how we treat the most vulnerable.
Sir Laurie Bristow, who was Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan during the summer of 2021 and the fall of Kabul, warned that the lives of Afghans who "have worked for us and with us ... are in danger" as a result.
He added that "many of our own military owe their lives to the Afghans who worked and fought alongside them in Afghanistan."
General Sir Richard Barrons, a former head of joint operations who served in Afghanistan, said the pilot's route to the UK should not affect his chances of asylum.
"It shouldn't be complicated," he said. “This driver has the right to come here or not. The fact that he traveled through other countries to get here is not surprising given the mess the government has created with the evacuation process.
Raab struggled to provide answers on Wednesday when he was repeatedly questioned about the threat of deportation of the Afghan veteran to Rwanda.
Pressed four times on the Today show about whether the pilot would be 'deported' from the UK, Raab said the government was determined to crack down on 'criminal gangs fueling the illegal asylum trade' by bringing people to the UK on boats. little ones .
But Colonel Simon Diggins, who served as defense attaché in Afghanistan and was involved in the 2021 evacuation of Kabul, said: “We must not accept the terminology that he got here 'illegally'; it's the wrong language for people like him who have no other way to get here safely.
"It is appalling that this man who was in our allied forces is being treated in this way."
Sir William Patey, the former British ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, warned of the extreme danger the war hero would have faced if he had stayed.
“He carried out combat missions against the Taliban, for which he would have been directly threatened with reprisals in Afghanistan; they would have killed him," he said.
“I really don't see how you can't get asylum or benefit from the various Afghan programs. It's a bit of a stretch that he's threatened with Rwanda.
Major General Tim Cross, who served in Iraq, the Balkans and Northern Ireland, called the case "common sense, or rather a lack of common sense".
He continued: “If this man was a member of the Afghan forces fighting alongside the coalition, the risks to him are obvious. The entire withdrawal from Afghanistan was terrible, and cases like these are the human consequences of the mistakes we made in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Afghan veteran, who flew 30 combat missions against the Taliban, was hailed by his coalition forces supervisor as a "patriot of his nation."
An email sent by the Home Office said that because he had traveled through Italy, Switzerland and France to reach England, it could have "consequences for the admission of his claim into the UK asylum system...[The driver] may also be removable to Rwanda.
He was also told by the Home Office that his personal details could be shared with the Rwandan authorities, prompting claims that he had been "forgotten" by US and British forces.
Former Defense Minister Kevan Jones said: “We owe a huge debt to these people. That's no way to deal with them. It is a stain on Britain's great reputation for supporting its friends.
He added: “We always support our friends. We should keep doing it. This government is clearly not doing that in this case and many others.
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