LONDON: The UK Home Office has deferred its plans to deport three Nepalese security guards who helped protect British embassy staff in Afghanistan, and released a fourth who was being detained, the Guardian reported on Wednesday.
Eleven Nepalese and two Indian guards, several of whom were said to have risked their lives to protect British personnel and embassy staff in Kabul, were airlifted to the UK when Western forces withdrew from the country in late 2021 and the Taliban seized control.
The Home Office arrested and detained 10 of the men on March 27. One of them, 37-year-old Bam Bahadur Gurung, was released on Wednesday. The Nepali national spent more than 10 years in Afghanistan, working for part of that time as a security guard at the British and Canadian embassies in Kabul. In 2016, several of his colleagues were killed in a suicide bombing that targeted consular guards.
“I am delighted but I do not understand what is happening,” he told The Guardian after he was notified he would be released.
“I’ve been told to go to the reception area of the detention center but nobody is explaining anything.”
Kumar Bahadar Gurung, who was injured in the 2016 suicide bombing, is among those who remain in detention. He is being held in an immigration removal facility at Heathrow.
“I am very happy for Bam,” he told the Guardian, but said he is similarly confused about what is happening. The 47-year-old reportedly received several awards for his work in Afghanistan, including one from the UN.
Two of the detained men who were due to be deported before the process was halted had previously been granted indefinite leave to remain by the Home Office and were unaware of any change to this status when they were arrested. The three former guards who were not arrested or detained last week also have ILR status.
All 13 men were on the same flight out of Kabul and their cases were processed concurrently. It remains unclear why three were treated differently by the Home Office when the others were detained last week.
“We are delighted that the Home Office has deferred removal directions for three of our clients and have released Bam Gurung,” Jamie Bell, a lawyer representing some of the men, told the Guardian.
“We are deeply concerned that nine men remain detained and that some still have pending removal directions. We again question why men who served this country so bravely are being treated in such a cruel and erratic way.”
Labour MP Dan Jarvis, told the Guardian: “It’s deeply concerning to see these brave men facing deportation after initially being granted settlement in the UK.
“The Home Office continues to demonstrate a dereliction of duty when it comes to the lives of those who provided selfless service to our country.
“These men risked their lives for the UK and in return are being treated like criminals. Even at this late hour, there is still just time to do the right thing and honor the commitment made to settle here.”
The Home Office was approached for comment.