An Afghan pilot threatened with deportation to Rwanda must be offered a “safe haven” in the UK, the former head of RAF forces in Afghanistan has said.
Air Marshal Edward Stringer, who was also director of operations at the Ministry of Defence, has backed The Independent’scampaign to grant the Afghan veteran asylum – saying: “Now is the time for us to demonstrate the decency on which we so pride ourselves”.
In an op-ed drawing on his years of experience, Air Marshal Stringer described the real risk to life that faces those Afghans who served alongside coalition forces.
“Many of those in the Afghan forces served with distinction alongside us – and the Taliban will never forget that,” he said.
“We owe them all a debt of honour and should offer them asylum, and the security we promised them, in the UK – not least because we could not guarantee them safety and security in Afghanistan.”
Air Marshal Stringer led the 904 Expeditionary Air Wing in Afghanistan in 2008 working with Nato and Afghan forces and was also the director general of the UK’s Joint Force Development, training across the military.
He continued: “The Taliban knows as well as we do that we helped train the Afghan pilots (I remember vividly the start of that mission in Kandahar in 2008) and we should stand by those brave men – like the pilot The Independent is campaigning for – now.”
