A former Afghan special forces commando who fought alongside British troops against the Taliban has been rejected by the Home Office for relocation to the UK along with his family.
The man, a senior member of an elite unit, the “Triples”, and his relatives were deported back to Afghanistan from Pakistan last year, as they awaited final government clearance to come to Britain.
The large family, which includes young children, first applied for asylum in the UK four years ago and had been waiting almost a year in Pakistan, where they were smuggled into from Afghanistan in 2024 as the Taliban hunted them.
Last August, they were arrested by Pakistani police in their Islamabad hotel as their visas to stay in the country had expired and sent back to Afghanistan where they have been in hiding since.
This week, they received letters from the Home Office saying their application for entry clearance under the Government’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) relocation scheme had been rejected.
The former Triple’s son, Rayan, not his real name, told The i Paper: “I cannot believe that they have done this to my family.
“They’re tolerating a really bad life here, just with the one hope that the British Government will help us.
“It’s really destroying my family.”
British and Afghan special forces, the Triples, fought the Taliban side by side in AfghanistanPreviously, the Taliban had burned down their family home, broke Rayan’s three-year-old niece’s arm twice and threatened to shoot his sister-in-law who was seven months pregnant as they hunted his father.
The family’s details were among those accidentally leaked in an MoD data breach of almost 19,000 Afghans who had applied to be relocated to Britain.
The data leak led to the creation in April, 2024, of a secret relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) – for Afghans whose details were included.
The Triples, so-called as their units were named Commando Force 333 and Afghan Territorial Force 444, were crack troops trained by UK Special Forces.
They supported the SAS and SBS on some of the most dangerous operations in Afghanistan.
But after risking their lives on the front line they faced the threat of torture and death when the Taliban seized power in 2021.
The Triples risked their lives supporting British troops on some of the most dangerous operations in Afghanistan (Photo: John Moore/Getty)Last year, a report by The Independent found more than 100 ex-Afghan security forces had been killed in Afghanistan in the previous two years, with ex-Triples, detained and tortured while they waiting for clearance to come to the UK.
ARAP was an MoD relocation scheme set up for Afghans who served alongside the British military.
Under a two-step process, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) grants initial eligibility to ARAP applicants, then the Home Office oversees biometric enrolment and security checks before a final decision is made.
The family first applied to come to the UK under ARAP after the Taliban takeover in 2021, but this was rejected in 2023.
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After a review of their case, the family were subsequently given clearance by the MoD in August 2024 to move to Pakistan where they would provide biometrics as part of final Home Office immigration checks.
The MoD relocation offer was provisional on “suitability checks” and any of the family not having been convicted of a serious crime.
In a letter this week from the Home Office, seen by The i Paper, Rayan’s father was told his application was rejected as his presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” due to his “conduct, character, associations or other reasons”.
The Home Office letter said there was “no right of appeal” to a review, but that the decision could be challenged in the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
But an immigration source with knowledge of the former Triple’s case presented to the MoD in 2024 said no red flags were discovered during extensive vetting, and questioned the Home Office decision.
“Either they’ve lied, their sources are incompetent, or they knew they were going to reject this family and sat on it for months,” they said.
Rayan is now concerned for his father’s health and fears he may hand himself over to the Taliban in an attempt to save his family.
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“He worked many years with the British forces in Afghanistan. If they [the UK] don’t want to take all of my family, at least our children and my father have the right to live in safety,” Rayan said.
“If we need to sacrifice our family members, believe me, as a son, I’m ready to sacrifice myself.”
The Home Office was contacted for comment.
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