Rashid, as we call him, has been forced to move with his family five times since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in the fall of 2021. The last time was after he learned that the security services were asking questions about him at the grocery store where he used to shop.
– Right now we are in a hiding place. We can’t work, the kids can’t go to school and we don’t go out unless we really have to.
The situation is the same for many other Afghans who worked for Western countries before they withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took control of the country.
– They are after everyone who has worked with the international community, says Rashid.
Worked closely with the Swedes
For nearly twenty years, Swedish military forces were on the ground in Afghanistan as part of an international effort. Interpreter Rashid was one of the locally employed Afghans who worked for the Swedish Armed Forces.
– We worked very closely with the Swedes on a daily basis. We went out on missions together, then we traveled in the same vehicle and slept in the same barracks, he says.
Björn Blanck, a Swedish veteran who did several missions in Afghanistan during the early 2000s, believes that Rashid and the other Afghans were important to the mission.
– The Swedish effort would have been completely impossible to implement without local employees, he says.
“Sweden must take responsibility”
In the chaos after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan two years ago, Swedish authorities managed to evacuate many of those who worked for Sweden. But around 50 of them remained, shows a compilation made by the Tolkarna campaign, which consists of Björn Blanck and several other veterans from the Swedish Afghanistan operation. Now they demand that Rashid and the others get help for resettlement in Sweden.
– It is through the interaction with Swedish government personnel that these people have a threat image towards them. Therefore, it is only Sweden that can take responsibility for getting their case heard.
The Tolkarna campaign believes that a government decision is required for the interpreters to be able to apply for a residence permit in Sweden.
– We are trying to draw attention to this one last time so that the government will come to its senses and take the responsibility that they have said they will take in this matter, says Björn Blanck.
The government does not want to answer questions
Meanwhile in opposition, several current ministers pushed the issue of helping the Afghan interpreters.
– We have a moral responsibility. These are people who are exposed to serious threats because they have helped Sweden and fought side by side with Swedish units and then it is our duty to put them to safety, said Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (M) in autumn 2021.
We have sought her, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström and Defense Minister Pål Jonsson on repeated occasions to ask if they have any plan to help Rashid and his old colleagues. But we have not received an interview.
At the same time, Rashid hopes for a better future for himself and his family.
– We need protection, a safe place where we can work and live. That’s what we’re looking for, he says.
– The locally employed Afghans were colleagues of the Swedish authorities, and you don’t leave colleagues on the battlefield, says veteran Björn Blanck.