Many interpreters remain in the country – now collection is started • “If the Taliban find out, they will kill us”
Many of the interpreters and other local employees who worked for the Swedish Armed Forces during the operation in Afghanistan are still in the country.
They live in hiding, branded as enemies by the Taliban who now rule the country.
A Swedish Afghanistan veteran is now starting a fundraiser to do what the Swedish authorities have failed to do – to help the people to safety in Sweden.
Around 8,000 Swedes took part in the international effort that would create security in a war-ravaged Afghanistan. But they were also helped by interpreters and other local employees. We have chosen to call one of them Fawad. He worked in the kitchen at the Swedish base. Now he and his family live in hiding and never stay longer than a few months in the same place.
– Those of us who worked for Swedish or foreign troops, if the Taliban find out they might kill us, he says over a video call from somewhere in Afghanistan.
Was on the list but stayed
When the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021, Swedish authorities evacuated several of the Afghans who worked for Sweden. Fawad was on the list but in the chaos he was left behind. While many other countries continued to lift out their former local employees, Sweden has not acted. Björn Blanck served for the Swedish Armed Forces in Afghanistan for almost three years. He says that the task would have been impossible to carry out without the help of the local employees.
– They are not forgotten. I am in contact with all the people who have worked closely with the Swedish military and they are still holding out the last hope that Sweden will finally take responsibility and give them a trial.
Collection started
Now he is trying to help his old colleagues with what the Swedish authorities have failed to do. He has started a fundraiser and is working with a Canadian non-profit organization to arrange travel documents and bring three families across the border to neighboring Pakistan, where the UN’s migration agency IOM is based. Once there, the Migration Agency will take over and the families can be flown to Sweden as quota refugees.
He hopes to show the government and Swedish authorities that it is possible to help the former local employees in Afghanistan.
– This will hopefully lead to it becoming clear that it is still possible to act for these people. Around 50 people who worked for Sweden and their families remain in Afghanistan.
Defense Minister Pål Jonson tells TV4 Nyheterna that the government is working on a solution for them, but declines an interview. At the same time, Fawad hopes that Björn’s fundraising will be successful.
– It would save our lives, he says. It is a chance for me and my family to come to Sweden and start our lives over.