Report: Afghans Who Guarded British Embassy Ditched by UK Government - FARS

(FNA)- Some 125 Afghans who had been hired to guard the British embassy in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, have been reportedly informed that they are not eligible for a British scheme designed to help people who worked for the UK resettle abroad, amid the takeover of the country by the Taliban militants.

The Guardian reported on Friday that around 125 local guards, as well as a dozen other embassy staffers, had been rejected after applying for the so-called Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) because they hadn’t been employed “directly” by London and worked as private contractors under GardaWorld, a Canada-based security firm.

The Afghan guards were informed they would receive no protection or assistance from the UK government, and were also told that their jobs had been terminated through an informal notice only — leaving them confused about their employment status immediately after helping British diplomats flee the country last Saturday.

“We risked our lives for them, and now we find ourselves in this bad situation — not just us, but our families are at risk,” said a former guard, whose name was not mentioned in the report.

“We worked in frontline positions, doing the most dangerous work to keep British officials safe,” he added.

The former guards insisted that their work deserved recognition from UK authorities.

“We are known as British embassy staff; our lives are now at risk. No one asked whether we are safe or not. No one asked whether our lives are in danger or not,” another guard said.

The British embassy employees also said they feared reprisals from the Taliban as their work had been “in the public eye”.

“We have been doing a very dangerous job for the British embassy, and we are in a terrible condition,” a former employee told The Guardian.

Of around 160 foreign GardaWorld staffers that applied for help, only 21 translators were accepted for assistance and relocation.