Latest news with #RafiHottak
Daily Mail
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Shock as Britain turns its back on Afghans who loyally helped UK forces during two decades in Afghanistan with sudden closure of lifeline ARAP scheme
Hundreds of Afghans in line for sanctuary in Britain in return for their loyalty to the UK were 'betrayed' today when ministers suddenly cut a lifeline to help them. The Afghans, owed a debt a gratitude for working alongside British troops and officials during the UK's two decades in Afghanistan, face retribution from the vengeful Taliban warlords now running the country. The Daily Mail's award-winning 'Betrayal of the Brave' campaign led to a scheme being set up to resettle thousands of Afghans in Britain. But today, without warning, the Government suddenly closed the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) to new applicants. The decision, slipped out without any announcement, spread panic among those who had been hoping to make a new life in safety in the UK. The scheme's shock closure – from 3pm today - was confirmed in an 'explanatory memorandum' in a Home Office policy document. The decision – and lack of announcement – flies in the face of the public pledges made by former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace when he set up the scheme. Mr Wallace said in 2020: 'We want to send a message to the world that if you work with the British wherever we are deployed, we'll look after you.' Today former frontline interpreter Rafi Hottak, who was blown up on patrol with UK forces in Helmand, said he felt betrayed by the sudden announcement. 'I am deeply shocked and saddened by the news that the UK Government is scrapping the ARAP scheme – a programme that was meant to honour Britain's moral obligation to the brave Afghan men and women who stood shoulder to shoulder with British forces in Afghanistan,' he said. 'Many of these individuals put their lives on the line for the UK mission. Today, they live in hiding, facing persecution, torture, and death at the hands of the Taliban. Thousands have been waiting for years without a decision on their applications, clinging to hope that the country they served would not abandon them. That hope is now being extinguished.' Former Sergeant Major Colin Dawson, who served two tours in Afghanistan and battled to help those he worked with escape the Taliban, said : 'If we have abandoned people out there – and it seems we have – it is very wrong. We have a duty of care to these people who served with us. 'After all these years there are still people left behind who we should be helping. Many people have been rescued and we should be grateful for that but my experience of ARAP has been negative, I have tried to help one interpreter whose family is still in country – they have been beaten and abused – but ARAP has failed to reply. The last occasion was only last week. It is immensely frustration, these people are in desperate need and yet hope, it seems, is being taken from them.' Professor Sara de Jong, a founding member of the Sulha Alliance which campaigns for interpreters and those who worked for Britain, said: 'The sudden announcement that ARAP closes comes as a shock to the Sulha Alliance and our community of Afghan interpreters and other locally employed civilians. Perversely, the Government's own ARAP website has not even been updated yet and states that the scheme "remains open". Perversely, the Government's own ARAP website has not even been updated yet and states that the scheme "remains open". 'The closure is implemented in a very odd way, by adding as a criteria for eligibility that applicants must have "submitted their application before 15:00 BST on 1 July 2025".' Afghan applicants deserved advance notice of this new rule, especially as the UK Government prided itself in teaching Afghans about good governance and transparency. 'There is no information on what will happen with applicants who have submitted a request for a review of a negative decision, many of whom have been waiting for months if not years.'
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Fury over six-year-old boy's 'traumatic' wait for ambulance after car crash leaves him with bone sticking out of his leg and covered in blood
A father has told how his six-year-old son was left bleeding and with a bone sticking out of his broken leg for almost an hour after a road accident while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Rafi Hottak, who has campaigned on behalf of Afghan interpreters who helped the British military, says young son Yousuf has been left traumatised after suffering multiple injuries close to his Birmingham home. Yousuf, said to have been struck by an SUV while crossing the road on his journey back from school, suffered a broken leg and compound fracture, as well as cuts and bruises to his head and body. His father, 39, has asked for answers from West Midlands Ambulance Service over why it took more than an hour for paramedics to reach the boy - and the organisation has now apologised, while blaming pressure caused by hospital handover delays. An off-duty medic who was passing by was among those stopping to help as Yousuf lay beside the road, helping to try stemming the bleeding after the May 14 incident. Mr Hottak, 39, has been living in Britain for the past 13 years - having previously been injured himself on the Afghanistan frontline in a Taliban blast targeting UK forces. He has told MailOnline of his distress at Yousuf's suffering, with the boy telling his father: 'I don't want to die, Daddy.' The schoolboy is also still struggling to even 'hop' let alone walk almost a month after suffering his injuries, having been discharged from hospital. The accident took place in the Birmingham district of Sparkbrook shortly before 6pm on May 14, as Yousuf was crossing a road having almost reached his family home. Mr Hottak has shared a photo online of his son lying barely conscious when finally taken into an ambulance for treatment following the incident. The father told his 2,500 followers on X, formerly Twitter: 'My six-year-old child was hit by an SUV in Birmingham. 'He had a broken leg with the bone sticking out, head trauma, face bleeding, heavy bruising, and signs of shock. 'He was lying on the side of the road with four people pressing on his wounds just to stop the bleeding and keep him conscious. 'We called 999 multiple times, and every time we were told the same thing: "There is no ambulance available. We can't give you a timeframe." 'This is not a minor incident. This is a child - hit by a car, clearly in critical condition -and still, no priority, no urgency, no care.' Speaking now to MailOnline, Mr Hottak said he had still not received any feedback from health officials over why it took so long to respond on that evening. He said of Yousuf's progress since: 'He's getting better at the moment but he still can barely even hop by himself and still has wounds and cuts all over his body and everywhere he has bruises. 'Worst of all is between the knee and ankle of his broken leg - at the time the bone was sticking out of his flesh.' Mr Hottak told how a family friend was escorting Yousuf and other children home from tuition classes they have after the end of the regular schoolday. He said: 'Yousuf was almost home, crossing the street where lots of cars are parked on each side and a van came along. 'The lady driver, from the way she was driving, it seems she might have panicked and instead of braking, accelerated instead and his leg was driven over - we were lucky that it wasn't his head. 'I understand it was an accident, an unfortunate situation - more of a problem from my point of view is why it took so long for any ambulance to arrive. 'There are three hospitals within about half an hour's drive yet he was on the side of the street for an hour - you're telling me there were no ambulances at any of those that could get there sooner? 'Luckily a medic was passing by, not in her uniform as she was off-duty but she was there to help, along with a few other neighbours who helped hold him and stem the bleeding.' Mr Hottak said of the delayed response by paramedics: 'It shows to me that there are wider problems down the line. 'A child of six is hit by a car, with broken bones and yet he's not being prioritised? No child should be on the side of the road like that for an hour. 'How many ambulances are there in Birmingham and was every single one of them on emergencies elsewhere? 'It's been very traumatic for us all - just to see his face looking up at me and his injuries is very difficult. He says he still can't feel his leg and times and tells me, "Dad, I don't want to die."' A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'Firstly, we would like to offer our sincere apologies to Master Hottak and his family for the delayed response he experienced. 'Our staff and volunteers across the service are working exceptionally hard to get to patients as quickly as possible. 'Sadly, we are seeing some patients wait much longer for a response than we would want as a result of hospital handover delays.' The spokesperson said the call was categorised as a 'C2' incident, which would be responded to within 40 minutes in 'at least nine out of 10 cases' - while saying their team arrived 46 minutes after an initial 999 call. The service's spokesperson added: 'When ambulances are delayed handing their patient over at hospital, they are unable to respond to the next call, which impacts on the care of patients in the community. 'There is a direct correlation between hospital handover delays and our ability to get to patients in the community quickly. 'We continue to work with our partners to find new ways to reduce delays so that our crews can respond more quickly and save more lives.' Mr Hottak was previously blown up on the Afghan frontline in a blast that killed a British officer and now campaigns for his ex-colleagues who served alongside UK forces as translators. On moving to Britain in 2011, he initially had his application for asylum rejected by the UK Border Agency - before they reversed their decision following a public backlash including from MPs and members of the military. Mr Hottak had paid £8,000 to people smugglers to reach Britain, before walking into a Central London police station to make his plea for asylum. Fluent in three languages, including English, Mr Hottak worked for the US military as an interpreter in 2004 before switching to the British two years later following in the footsteps of his elder brother. It was on the morning of November 14 2007 that while on foot patrol with a joint British Afghan force near the centre of Sangin, in Afghanistan's Helmand province, an IED was triggered. His boss Captain John McDermid, 43, of 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, was killed, while Mr Hottak was badly wounded. The interpreter suffered horrific shrapnel wounds to the head, neck, arms and chest that required 170 stitches, while also temporarily losing the use of his hand and was deaf in one ear for more than a year. Thanks to the work of doctors, Mr Hottak returned to work after three months but was unfit for frontline duties and was given a job at Camp Souter, the main British recruitment base in Kabul, the Afghan capital. His role involved interviewing prospective interpreters as well as liasing with the families of colleagues killed or injured, sometimes returning the remains of the dead to their families. It was then that he began to receive death threats both by letter and telephone – threats he told British officers about and which helped encourage him to seek asylum in the UK where he has since retrained as an accountant. The Mail's award-winning Betrayal of the Brave campaign has been highlighting the plight of hundreds of Afghan translators and has helped bring about changes in government policy, opening the way for many of those fearing for their lives to come to the UK.
