The Sun on Sunday backs petition to help Afghan hero Mohammed Nabi Wardak after the UK ‘left him to be homeless prey for Taliban revenge killers’
Sign the petition to call on the British government to bring Nabi and his family to the UK
AN Afghan interpreter who bravely risked his life helping our soldiers in Helmand is now homeless – after UK military went back on their promises to protect him.
Mohammed Nabi Wardak, 30, who provided vital support and helped save dozens of lives between 2008 and 2011, was forced to flee his home by the Taliban.
Fearing for his own life and that of his wife and their four children if he stayed, he is now sleeping rough in Athens after the British Embassy rejected his pleas for help.
Today The Sun on Sunday backs a petition — already signed by 80,000 people — to bring Nabi and his family to the UK, and calls on the Government to honour its promise to protect this hero.
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In an exclusive interview, Nabi says: “The British soldiers were like my brothers on the frontline but the British Embassy doesn’t want to know me.
“They seem to want me to return to Afghanistan and be killed by the Taliban.
“When I served alongside their soldiers the British Army told me they would protect me. For years I’ve been waiting for them to fulfil that promise.
“I sacrificed my life, my home and my family for the British Army, but now I have been left behind.”
Nabi, whose children are aged eight, six, five and three, is calling on Defence Minister Gavin Williamson and Home Secretary Sajid Javid to let him and his family into the UK.
So far his pleas for asylum have fallen on deaf ears.
Nabi’s job was to listen to the Taliban over the radio and tip off the Army to insurgent hideouts, potential ambushes and orders to strike.
His bravery was praised by commanders of both the Marines and Paras, and he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for his work with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Nabi says: “I replaced an interpreter who had been killed at Kajaki, so the danger was very real.
“There were IEDs everywhere. Many times I wondered whether the next step I took would be my last.”
To the Taliban, he was a traitor. In summer 2011 he got a threatening phone call from a terrorist leader.
Nabi says: “They told me, ‘You are on my list. You are working as an interpreter. Quit your job. We know where you live and know all about you’.”
The threats continued after Coalition forces left Afghanistan. Then, in March 2014, Nabi was attacked in the street in a botched kidnap attempt.
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After 18 months of further intimidation he fled to Turkey and on to Greece, leaving his family behind and in hiding.
He was told he could either seek asylum in Athens or return to face the deadly Taliban in Afghanistan.
He says: “I had no choice. I can’t return home.
“Last year my cousin, a judge, was murdered in Kabul. And the family of my neighbour who worked for the Afghan National Army were victims of an attack.
"It is only a matter of time before the Taliban target my children.”
Sajid Javid said in March that 400 Afghan interpreters had been given asylum in the UK, but Nabi says the British Embassy told him “because they paid me for my services they don’t have any obligation to help me”.
He added: “When the British and Americans arrived I hoped it would lead us out of the darkness under the Taliban. Now I wish I’d never agreed to work for them. What has it achieved?”
Nabi’s plight was discovered by Jess Webster, whose Forge For Humanity charity helps homeless men in Athens.
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His cause was taken up by Faith Matters in the UK, which organised the petition to the Home Office.
Founder Fiyaz Mughal says: “It is appalling the British Government isn’t honouring people who risked everything to save the lives of our soldiers in Afghanistan.
“Let Nabi and his family come to the UK.”