Key PointsAustralia’s Afghan In the community Occupied Worker Program is being terminated on 31 Would possibly.The LEE program introduced resettlement to interpreters who have been susceptible to hurt via the Taliban because of their paintings.Candidates nonetheless ready on certification are caught in Afghanistan and say their lives are in peril.
In 2021, Taj Wali Raihan’s international was once upended.
The Taliban had taken again Afghanistan and he was once .
Raihan had labored as an interpreter for the Australian Defence Drive (ADF) a decade in the past and feared for his year in Afghanistan.
“We felt very sad at that time, fearing that if the Australians didn’t come, and we stayed, we would be in danger,” he informed SBS Information.
“Because we have worked with Australians and heard the Taliban are killing people.”
He has now settled along with his nation in Newcastle, NSW, and effectively got a humanitarian visa via .
“Now that we have come to Australia, I see a bright future for my children and we also see a promising future for ourselves,” he mentioned.
The LEE program started in 2013 and introduced resettlement for Afghan workers who have been susceptible to hurt on account of their paintings with the ADF.
It has helped 900 former employees determine in Australia since its inception, however because it attracts to a alike, there are nonetheless many former interpreters caught in Afghanistan who say their lives are in peril.
Now, they are able to do not anything however conceal, they usually say the Australian executive has unloved them.
A LEE falls beneath the humanitarian visa and lets in a success candidates to be fast-tracked.
To deliver to be processed, former Afghan workers wish to obtain certification from the Section of Defence to turn out they labored for the ADF.
After they obtain that, they are able to follow for an enduring humanitarian visa.
However some have nonetheless no longer won a certificates result.
That implies they most probably received’t have the ability to follow for a fast-tracked visa as a result of .
That incorporates Ali (no longer his actual title), who has been ready seven years for his certification.
“My family and I are facing serious threats. I am in hiding, away from my family and children. Many times, the Taliban have raided my house because of me,” he informed SBS Information
Legal professional Shahri Rafi mentioned she believes Australia is popping a “blind eye” to its ethical accountability.
“For the ones that haven’t lodged or didn’t have the opportunity to lodge, or the fact that the Australian government did not expand the contractors in this process and abolished the program … in my view, Australia is turning a blind eye to its moral duty,” she mentioned.
The Section of House Affairs remains to be processing 189 current LEE packages, irrespective of this system’s closure.
It informed SBS Information that former workers who weren’t ready to get LEE-certified can nonetheless follow for a humanitarian visa.
Nevertheless it approach the ones in maximum threat, as a result of they labored for Australia, can be caught in a queue of round 220,00 candidates.
This tale was once produced in collaboration with SBS Pashto
