Former members of the Afghan particular forces serving with British soldiers in Afghanistan can be re -settled to the UK, there was a “disaster area”, so it can be compared to “crime site”, the High Court has heard.
Thousands of applications from Afghans with reliable links for units of special forces, thousands of applications for sanctuary and ATF444, known as Triples, were rejected by the Ministry of Defense (MOD). His arguments were reprimanded by the government for help British paid and trained units And soldiers fighting with UK Special Forces (UKF) in Afghanistan.
MOD is reviewing some 2,000 applications of Afghans associated with units Independent, With the Lighthouse report, Sky News and BBC revealed how they were being denied help.
The court heard that the review of some 2,000 applications is only looking into cases that were referred to by the UK special forces for input by Mod Cassworkers.
Amidst the ongoing investigation into possible war crimes in Afghanistan, special forces of the UK created power over the applications of the UK’s sanctuary by Afghan colleagues. Concerns have been raised by MPs About the possible struggle of interests allowing UKKF to role role in the rehabilitation process.
The investigation is investigating the alleged war crimes raised by the UKSF between 2010 and 2013. UKSF members have been accused of killing unarmed Afghans, Putting weapons on them, proving reports wrong and then covering crimes.
The High Court also heard that the MOD rejected the rehabilitation application of a senior commander from the triples units, which was in the units at the time of a major incident being investigated in the Afghan war investigation.
A former senior member of Triples, who is now in the UK, Getting a legal challenge In Afghanistan, there is still a challenge from the commandos – how the review has been done. This case is an application for judicial review, which if given, the scheme will be further challenged in courts.
Thomas de la Mare Casey told the court on Wednesday that an effective blanket ban was imposed on the approval for these ex-servicemen who fought a side-by-side battle with the British Army.
He told the court that the decisions to help these Afghans were “decisions of life and death”, triple members or their families were assassinated or tortured by their support for the UK forces.
Speaking of decision making within the mod, he said: “The decision -making process before the review is almost a crime scene, it is a disaster area.”
He said: “It is almost as destructive as there is an area of ​​decision making because it is possible to conceive.”
He argued that information about how approval was made public should be made public “to restore public confidence and confidence in the decision -making process”.
Mr. Da La Mare continued: “There is a widespread belief that the process is a matter of conflict of interests or bias. In January 2024 those struggles of interest were very clearly explained, and they were an important part in the decision -making process.”
The court also heard that the modes decision makers were put on political pressure to ‘sprint’ through rehabilitation cases. This inspired concerns about the quality of decision -making, resulting in an internal review, where “a pattern to deny the triple claims referred to the UKSF became clear”, told to the court.
The decision -making process involved people “unfairly depended on UKSF personnel”, especially during the summer of 2023 during the “sprints”, the court heard.
Prior to the review, Cassworkers lacked access to the relevant records and were experienced inadequately.
The court heard that the then minister, Johnny Mercer, for veteran cases, wrote to Oliver Dowden in January 2024 as to how the process was being carried out. He said that the role of UKSF personnel in the decision -making process was “deeply inappropriate” and represented “significant struggle of interests”.
Mr. D La Mare said that a “Vanishli Chhoti” number commandos of special forces were approved to transfer commandos to the UK until the triples review was announced in February 2024.
He told the court that senior ministers had decided to review a review “On the basis that all reliable claims of triple membership were in scope”. However, Mr. D La Mare said that it was narrowed only to re -investigate where the Afghan applicant’s case was sent to the UK special forces.
The hearing is scheduled to end on Friday, in which a decision is expected in writing on the latter date.
