Hundreds of Afghans flown to Britain amid fears they could be executed, tortured or imprisoned by the Taliban have returned to Afghanistan on holiday, a whistleblower claimed.
A former interpreter who served alongside British forces allegeded some were exaggerating the threat they faced from Islamist militants.
The source claimed Afghans relocated to Britain sent fake Taliban threat letters, staged torture videos and false allegations of attacks.
Some even pushed to bring second wives to the UK, it has been claimed, alongside parents, siblings and other relatives.
And there was a thriving black-market business of proving fake Taliban threat letters.
An Afghan source – a former interpreter – told Sky News he is aware of people who have travelled back and forth to Afghanistan for holidays and other trips.
He said: “We have witnessed … interpreters from various units, from SF [special forces] units …there are hundreds of them going in, coming back. It made me disappointed because [British] people believed there was a high threat to the interpreters.”
Reform’s Zia Yusuf declared: “The British people have been scammed by their own political leaders. Disgrace.”
Officials examined more than 100,000 cases resettlement cases. Each contained ‘evidence’ of the threats they faced. If deemed credible, it made a person’s application a higher priority.
But the Afghan source said this evidence often appeared to be fake. In one case, a man borrowed a neighbour’s gun, shot his own car and pretended the Taliban had shot at him. Another took a video from the internet and claimed Islamists attacked his wife.
And a third man claimed his cousin had been killed by the Taliban when he had actually died in a car crash.
The Afghan source told Sky News of the industry offering fake documents: “This is very traditional, making fake intimidation letters, fake documents… to make legitimate [an applicant’s] pathway to come to the United Kingdom,” he said.
One of those middle-men revealed: “It was typical threat letters, threatening people, for example, [we] will kill you and scare them, depending on the cases,” he said.
“It was a huge business, with thousands of them. Lots of these letters were made,” he said. He said it would cost between $1,000 (£740) and $1,500 (£1,110) to order a fake letter.
Asked why someone would want one, he said: “For various purposes, such as claiming asylum or moving out of the country.”
An MoD spokesperson said: “We are committed to honouring the moral obligation we owe to those Afghans who stood with our brave men and women.
“As with all those arriving to the UK, anyone found eligible for relocation from Afghanistan and their family members undergo robust security checks, including for national security. If they don’t pass these checks, they are not granted entry to the UK.”
After the MoD’s independent review was concluded this year, the UK reduced the number of immediate family members eligible for relocation to three from seven.
But the British source with knowledge of the resettlement process alleged that the system had previously been “severely abused” in 2021 and early 2022 “with multiple family members being moved” to the UK. This included – on occasion – second wives, he said.
“Everyone who was approved should have their case re-looked at and assessed against a strict criteria, if found not eligible they should be taken back home along with all additional family members,” he told Sky News, before adding: “But that is never going to happen.”
