Ammar carried in an unremarkable white plastic bag a clutch of papers that are among his most valuable possessions at the moment.
It would have attracted too much attention for us to visit his home, so he rode his motorcycle to meet us at a secure area, afraid that he would be inspected at a Taliban checkpoint and that they would discover the documents.
The paperwork contained his two-year contract as a teacher with the British Council and other documentation of his ties to the United Kingdom, which he hoped would enable him and his family to reach safety. He worries for his life due to his employment with the British government.
“We taught the culture and principles of the United Kingdom in Afghanistan. In addition to teaching English, we also covered equality, diversity, and inclusion. According to their beliefs, it is contrary to Islam and illegal. Because of this, they believe we are criminals who must be punished. Because of this, we feel intimidated “he stated.
The Taliban had already detained him, and he feels that his job has put his family in danger.
“They brought me to the police station and questioned whether or not I had worked for a foreign government. Fortunately, they found no proof at my home or on my phone.
“But I do not believe this is the end. They are monitoring my whereabouts.”
Ammar is one of more than a hundred British Council-employed teachers with public-facing positions who have been abandoned in Afghanistan. Numerous of them are female.
Nooria participated in an English-teaching program as well.
“It was difficult for us. Some individuals held radical views and frequently stated, “What you are teaching is unacceptable to us.” We were viewed as representatives of the British government everywhere we went.
Some believed we were spies for the United Kingdom. According to her, this places her and her family in danger in Afghanistan under Taliban authority.
While the organization has promised an amnesty for everyone who worked for the old regime and its sympathizers, evidence of revenge killings is rising. The United Nations has logged 160 cases.
Nooria has been in hiding since August of last year when the Taliban seized power.
“Extremely stressful. It is worse than the life of a prisoner. We are unable to move about freely. We attempt to alter our appearance before going outside. It has affected my mental state. Sometimes I feel like the world is ending “She stated,
She alleges that the British Council discriminates against its employees.
“The office employees were evacuated, but we were left behind. Even when the Afghan Relocation Assistance Policy (ARAP) was released, we were not informed.”
Nooria and the other teachers have now registered for resettlement through a second UK program known as the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), but have only received reference numbers so far.
According to the British Council, when the ARAP program was first introduced, the UK government only evaluated applications from workers, including their office personnel, but not from teachers or other contractors.
They also claim to have pushed for success with the British government.
The UK Foreign Office has stated that British Council contractors are eligible for relocation under the ACRS scheme and that it is attempting to process applications as fast as possible, but cannot provide an estimate of how long this may take.
“Only if a contractor dies do I believe they will take immediate action. And then they may conclude that they are in danger. Now let’s take action. I believe that sooner or later, this will occur “Ammar stated.
Some of the teachers are Hazara, an ethnic minority victimized by the Taliban and repeatedly targeted by Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group. In the previous ten days, there have been three explosions in Hazara-dominated neighborhoods of Kabul.
But the way to safety is even more dubious for individuals who served in various capacities for the British government.
As a senior adviser, Jaffer facilitated the implementation of UK-funded development projects in Afghanistan.
He was directly employed by British enterprises, some of which were formed or awarded contracts by the British government. He also served in comparable capacities for the United States government, notably in military facilities.
Before 2021, Jaffer had received death threats from the Taliban during a series of assassinations targeting prominent Afghan civil society activists.
He displayed one of the messages he got, in which he was accused of being a spy for other governments and was threatened with death for “betraying the Islamic faith.”
Since last August, Jaffer has changed residence seven times.
The Taliban’s interior ministry delivered a summons notice to his family home early this year, requesting his presence at a police station for investigation. He has gotten three of these letters.
“I was hospitalized due to stress and shock. I can’t sleep. The doctor prescribed me strong medications, yet even they are of little assistance. My wife suffers from depression as well. My children do not attend school. I fear they could be identified “he replied.
The United States has denied Jaffer a special immigrant visa (SIV) because he cannot obtain a letter of recommendation from his boss, who died from Covid-19.
During the chaotic evacuation that followed the Taliban’s unexpectedly swift takeover of Afghanistan, a British official summoned Jaffer to the airport. He and his wife and young children sat on a bus outside the airport for six hours.
“My son was feeling ill, but we couldn’t even open the windows because desperate passengers outside would have tried to enter. The Taliban were engaging in the aerial fire. My son witnessed this and was so traumatized by it.”
On the same day, suicide bombers assaulted the airport, killing more than 180 people.
Jaffer and his family did not make it through the last stages of the UK’s on-the-ground evacuation.
Since then, the UK government has only provided him with a case number in response to his application to the ARAP program.
“We worked together. I facilitated their participation. Our Afghans on the ground did not dislike the foreigners since we persuaded locals to allow the projects to proceed. We confronted the threats, and now I am left in this state. There is nowhere in the world where I can live safely and with respect “His voice was trembling as he spoke.
“What will the future hold for my children? My child is unable to study. I had huge dreams for her. My young sons, will they become extremists? I continue to wonder why I brought children into the world. If this is their future, then perhaps they should not be alive “he replied.
We met with at least three additional individuals who worked for the British government, including a combat interpreter who deployed with British forces. All of them expressed a sense of betrayal by those for whom they had endangered their lives.
The British authorities evacuated 15,000 individuals in August of last year, and a further 5,000 since then.
But hundreds more are in limbo, living each day in fear, anxiously scanning their email inboxes for a glimmer of hope.
Nooria stated, “I used to be proud to work for the British government.”
“I now regret my decision. I wish I had never worked for them since they do not appreciate our lives or our labor and have horribly abandoned us.”
