Latest news with #JohnnyMercer
The Independent
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
UK urged to bring hundreds of Afghan heroes to safety after major blunder saw them wrongly rejected
The British government has been urged to hasten the relocation of hundreds of Afghan heroes to the UK after Ministry of Defence (MoD) failures saw them left at the mercy of the Taliban. Thousands of applications for sanctuary from Afghans who worked with British troops were rejected despite them having credible links to the UK special forces (UKSF). The High Court heard this week that one UK special forces officer oversaw the blanket rejection of 1,585 cases during the summer of 2023. Ministers had initially denied that Afghan commandos, known as the Triples, had been paid by the UK government, but were forced to backtrack and announce a review into 2,000 applications. Around 600 Afghan allies, whose applications were among the initial 2,000 re-examined, have been granted approval to come to the UK. Now government lawyers have said that a further estimated 2,500 applications have been identified for review after the MoD realised the significance of rediscovered payroll data, paving the way for hundreds more to be brought to sanctuary. Former veterans minister Johnny Mercer has said that he is "shocked and appalled" by the failings in the MoD's initial handling of the applications. Campaigners and former military chiefs called on the government to speed up the relocation of these brave soldiers to the UK. Colonel Simon Diggins, former defence attache in Afghanistan, said that poor records had been kept by the UKSF, impacting the lives of the Triples soldiers. He said: 'We know that these individuals' lives are in danger. There is a real imperative to do something about it and to do it quickly. The accusation of poor data keeping is fair but now we have some records there is also an imperative to come up with a quicker way of dealing with this [Triples' evacuation].' Sarah Fenby-Dixon, Afghanistan consultant at the Refugee Aid Network, said: 'It is vital that the review process for all cases is speeded up, as even after being granted eligibility some people are waiting many months or even years before being transferred to safety.' A former senior member of the Triples, who is now in the UK, has brought the legal challenge against the government's processing of applications, with the case reaching the High Court this week. Thomas de la Mare KC, for the claimant, argued that guidance on how resettlement decisions were made should be made public and likened the failings to 'a crime scene'. In a witness statement to court, a senior civil servant said a new 'phase two' of the Triples review would re-examine 'at least several hundred although this may be as many as c2,500 applications'. The MoD said this would likely bring in soldiers who had served in the later years of the conflict in Afghanistan. Around 130 cases from the initial review will be moved into phase two, lawyers told the court. The High Court heard how the initial review was prompted after senior civil servants became concerned about how resettlement applications were being decided. It has since emerged that there was an effective 'blanket practice of automatic refusal', which left these highly trained Afghan soldiers at the mercy of the Taliban. A particular UK special forces officer was overseeing hundreds of rejections during a 'sprint' in the summer of 2023 to rush through decisions, the court heard. The MoD said that the officer's approach to decision-making was 'lax and unprofessional' and reached 'decisions far too quickly'. MoD caseworkers were also 'overly reliant' on UKSF personnel, and were 'not consistently exercising their own independent judgement', the government found. MPs have previously raised concerns about the potential bias of UKSF personnel having power over resettlement of Afghan allies amid an ongoing inquiry into alleged crimes by the UKSF in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013. Some of the Afghan commandos who applied for UK sanctuary could be witnesses to the events being examined by the independent inquiry. Mr Mercer, who raised concerns about decision-making with senior civil servants in early 2024, said: 'When I raised what was happening with the most senior officers and civil servants in the UK government, one in particular from UKSF claimed he was offended that I had and it was offensive to the UKSF. He was either lying to my face as a cabinet minister which is serious enough, or is so deeply incompetent he didn't know.' The MoD estimates that around 5,000 people were members of the Triples, working alongside the UKSF, during the Afghan war. General Sir John McColl, the UK's former special envoy to Afghanistan, said he believed the MoD had 'worked really hard to do the right thing for the Triples'. He said it was good that the MoD is re-examining up to 2,500 more cases and pressed for resources to be given to the team in charge of dealing with Afghan cases. He added that the delay in help was 'a combination of the record-keeping not being particularly good and that the withdrawal was as chaotic and fractured as we all recall'. 'We are now nearly four years on since the withdrawal and in that time these people have been in great danger, some of them will have been in harms way as a consequence of the delay, which is very unfortunate', he said. Col Diggins added: 'If there are potentially 2,000 more people, who with their family members could equal up to 10,000 people, that's a big number. We have an obligation to them for their service but we need to think differently about how we do the evacuations. 'We also need to ensure that if we are going to bring people from Afghanistan to this country, there are supported by a proper programme of integration when they get here.'
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Afghan commandos denied asylum over fears they may have witnessed 'war crimes by British troops' - despite the fact they now face retribution from the Taliban for fighting on our side
A Special Forces officer rejected the asylum applications of 1,585 Afghan soldiers who may have witnessed war crimes by British troops. Court documents showed the officer rejected every bid by the Afghan commandos, known as Triples, despite the troops still facing revenge from the Taliban for fighting with the British. Some Triples have been killed since the government was toppled in Kabul in August 2021. Troops' applications were rejected in 2023 – just months before a High Court inquiry into allegations of an SAS shoot-to-kill policy began. The inquiry is looking into claims the three separate SAS units murdered 80 or more Afghan captives on night raids between 2010 and 2013. The units were accompanied by the Triples on these missions. It is feared the unnamed Special Forces officer was trying to ensure Triples could not give evidence. Once in Britain, they could have been summoned to reveal they saw UK troops conduct extrajudicial killings. Former veterans minister Johnny Mercer – who campaigned for the Triples to come to this country – said he was 'appalled'. He added: 'When I raised this as happening to the most senior civil servants in UK Government, one in particular from UK Special Forces claimed he was 'offended' that I could make such a suggestion. 'He was either lying to my face... or he was so deeply incompetent he didn't know this was going on. 'I stand ready to assist any legal action against the Government for what is increasingly taking on the appearance or criminal negligence that has seen some of these good men killed.' The documents emerged as part of a judicial review into the Government's handling of the Triples' asylum applications. The case was brought by a Triples officer whose former colleagues have been killed and tortured by the Taliban while waiting for asylum in Britain. The judge-led inquiry into claims of SAS war crimes is due to publish its findings later this year. The MoD had claimed there was no blanket policy banning the Triples. But in an embarrassing U-turn, the department's lawyer was forced to acknowledge during the inquiry that there had been.
Arab News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Single UK Special Forces officer rejected 1,585 Afghan resettlement applications
LONDON: A court has been told a UK Special Forces officer personally rejected 1,585 applications from Afghans for resettlement in Britain. The applications were all from people with credible links to UKSF personnel, the Ministry of Defense told the court, amid an ongoing investigation into alleged war crimes by the Special Air Service in Afghanistan. The BBC revealed last week that the individual in question may have rejected applications from people with eye-witness testimony relating to the allegations. Numerous former Afghan special forces soldiers, known as Triples due to their regiment numbers, served alongside UK forces until the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021. Thousands of them and their relatives have subsequently struggled to obtain permission to travel to the UK. The public inquiry into the conduct of UKSF soldiers in Afghanistan, meanwhile, lacks the power to compel former Triples soldiers to testify unless they are in the UK. In October 2022 Natalie Moore, the head of the Ministry of Defense's Afghan resettlement team, voiced concern that UKSF involved in applications for resettlement were giving the 'appearance of an unpublished mass rejection policy.' In January last year, former Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer told senior government officials there was a 'significant conflict of interest that should be obvious to all' in the processing of resettlement applications by UKSF personnel. 'Decision-making power,' Mercer claimed, over 'potential witnesses to the inquiry,' was 'deeply inappropriate.' Mercer also noted that a number of former Triples soldiers had been killed by the Taliban after being left to wait in Afghanistan, including one whose application was rejected having 'previously confronted UKSF leadership about EJKs (extrajudicial killings) in Afghanistan.' The MoD initially denied UKSF personnel had a veto over the applications of former Triples soldiers, who having been armed, trained and funded by the UK, were deemed at risk of reprisals if left in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of coalition forces. However, more than 2,000 applications deemed credible by caseworkers have been rejected by the UKSF. The MoD subsequently announced a review of the applications over fears the process was not 'robust.' An additional 2,500 rejected applications were placed under review this week by the government. So far, more than 600 of the 1,585 rejections attributed to the single UKSF officer have been overturned. The revelations about the UKSF member who rejected the 1,585 applications were made at a judicial review hearing brought by former Triples soldiers over the conflict of interest in resettlement decision-making, which also heard the MoD had launched two investigations into UKSF practices. One investigation, known as Operation X, said that it 'did not obtain any evidence of hidden motives on the part of the UKSF liaison officer.' It added it found 'no evidence of automatic/instant/mass rejections,' but failed to provide evidence in its conclusion, instead suggesting the decisions were made as a result of 'slack and unprofessional verification processes' by the UKSF officer and 'lax procedures followed by the officer in not following up on all lines of enquiry before issuing rejections.' Tom de la Mare KC, representing the Afghan Triple soldier who brought the case, accused the MoD of failing to disclose evidence of blanket application rejections, and of 'providing misleading responses to requests for information,' the BBC said. Cathryn McGahey KC, acting for the MoD, said 'there might have been a better way of doing (the applications process), but that doesn't make it unlawful.' Daniel Carey, partner at law firm DPG, acting for the former Triples soldier, told the BBC: 'My client spent years asking the MoD to rectify the blanket refusals of Triples personnel and has seen many killed and harmed by the Taliban in that time. 'He is pleased that the MoD have agreed to inform everyone of the decisions in their cases and to tell the persons affected whether their cases are under review or not, but it should not have required litigation to achieve basic fairness.'
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Special Forces officer 'blocked bid by Afghan troops to come to UK because they may have witnessed war crimes', court hears
A United Kingdom Special Forces officer rejected the asylum applications of 1,585 Afghan soldiers who may have witnessed war crimes committed by British troops. According to court documents, the officer rejected every bid by Afghan commandos, known as Triples, despite these troops facing reprisals by the Taliban for fighting with the British. Some of these Afghan commandos have been killed since the Islamists toppled the Western-supported government in Kabul in August 2021. Their applications were rejected in 2023 just months before a High Court inquiry into allegations of an SAS shoot to kill policy in Afghanistan began hearing evidence. The probe is looking into claims the SAS murdered 80 or more Afghan captives on night raids between 2010 and 2013. The elite British troops were accompanied by the Triples on these secretive missions. It was feared last night the unnamed Special Forces officer was attempting to ensure the Triples could not give evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice. Once in Britain, they could have been summoned to the hearings, possibly to reveal they saw UK troops conduct Extra-Judicial Killings. Last night, the former Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer, who campaigned for the Triples to come to this country, told the Mail he was 'shocked and appalled' by the evidence. He said: 'When I raised this as happening to the most senior civil servants in UK government, one in particular from UK Special Forces claimed he was 'offended' that I could make such a suggestion. 'He was either to lying to my face, as a Cabinet minister, which was serious enough, or he was so deeply incompetent he didn't know this was going on. 'I stand ready to assist any legal action against the government for what is increasingly taking on the appearance or criminal negligence that has seen some of these good men killed. 'That they were Afghan lives may not matter United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF). I can assure you they matter to me and I will not let this go.' The documents emerged as part of a judicial review into the UK government's handling of the Triples' applications to come to this country. Lawyers for the Triples have argued the blanket refusal of applications breached the UK government's Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). The case was brought by a Triples officer who has seen former colleagues killed and tortured by the Taliban while they waited for protection under the scheme. In 2010 and 2011, when most of the alleged Extra-Judicial Killings took place, Afghan units expressed their disapproval at SAS tactics by refusing to deploy on night raids. Under guidelines imposed by the Afghan government, British units were forced to take Afghan units with them. So when they went on strike, these missions could not take place. In early 2011, the Afghan commandos also lodged a formal complaint alleging the SAS were ' assassinating innocents' on these operations. The judge-led inquiry into claims of SAS war crimes is due to publish its findings later this year. This could lead to soldiers facing a fresh criminal investigation.
The Independent
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Inside ex-Tory minister's mission to Ukraine where soldiers will not give in to Putin's demands
Dressed in a hoodie and sporting a mullet, former Tory MP Johnny Mercer did not want to be noticed when stepping onto the platform at Kyiv -Pasazhyrskyi railway station after a gruelling 20-hour journey from Poland. Despite Kyiv recovering from ' The Living Dead scenes' witnessed in the weeks after the outbreak of the war, the father-of-three said he did not want to take any chances as he started a recent seven-day mission in the war-torn country. The city may have 'come alive again' since those early days of the war, the former veterans minister said - but the threat remained. Sirens sounding every night served as a reminder of the danger to the 44-year-old, who stayed in a hotel in the curfew-controlled capital, some 330 miles from the country's front line with Russia. 'The alarm goes off and you're supposed to go into the bomb shelter,' Mr Mercer told the The Independent. 'But there's a bit of fatigue with all that, so you sort of pull the pillow over your head and hope it hasn't got your number on it.' One night, a drone landed in a garden close to the hotel, said the ex-army captain, who was quick to add that the Ukrainian military was doing a 'great job' in shooting the drones down in the sky. Mr Mercer was on a visit to help the veterans ministry and charities set up a platform to offer work and health services to the country's war veterans. While there are currently 1.2 million veterans in Ukraine, after the war it's believed there will be up to six million. On invite from Ukraine's veterans minister Nataliya Kalmykova, Mr Mercer spent time at injured soldiers' rehabilitation centres, such as the Tytanovi Centre in Kyiv, where amputees provided a raw reminder of the ongoing war with Russia. The army had a high proportion of amputees due to the inability to get injured soldiers off the battlefield quickly, Mr Mercer said. Many had ave also suffered facial injuries caused by FPV drones, which are small quadcopters usually armed with warheads. Recently, one company commander was deployed with 132 men, but then came back with only 30. 'The visceral nature of the injuries is quite intense but their spirit is remarkable and I love working with them,' said Mr Mercer. 'The stuff they go through is unheard of, but they would say they don't have a choice. It's their homeland, it's their family.' The work in Ukraine marks a year of change of career path for Mr Mercer, who lost his Plymouth Moor seat to Labour's Fred Thomas at last July's general election. His heavy involvement with veterans during his time in government means he still receives daily calls asking for help, which is why he says is keen to help in Ukraine, while also working on plans for a veterans' support platform in the UK this summer. And he wants to open an exchange programme for UK veterans to visit Ukraine, including Afghanistan ex-servicemen and women who, he said, can share their experience of using prosthetics in everyday challenges. Over the past few weeks, hopes for peace in Ukraine have increased. On Friday, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met for their first direct peace talks, but there is still no breakthrough in sight. Russian president Vladimir Putin, who stayed away from Friday's talks, has held fast to his longstanding demands for Ukraine to cede territory and abandon its NATO membership ambitions - terms rejected by Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky. On the ground in Ukraine, Mr Mercer said Mr Zelensky's position was shared among his people. He said: 'In Ukraine you realise that Zelensky cannot possibly give up as much as he's expected to give up at the moment they've sacrificed too much they've given too much and the people of Ukraine just won't accept it. 'It's not him [Zelensky] being belligerent or stubborn, it's him being realistic. I think everyone wants to finish the war but it's got to be done in the right way otherwise it's never going to stop.'
