From military chiefs to political leaders – all the people backing our campaign to support Afghan war heroes

Senior military figures and MPs are among the 50,000 people backing The Independent’s petition calling for the UK to give refuge to Afghan war heroes who served alongside British forces.

It comes after we revealed the plight of an Afghan pilot who served alongside the British army and fled to the UK on small boats and is now being threatened with deportation to Rwanda.

The air force lieutenant, who flew 30 combat missions against the Taliban and was praised by his coalition forces supervisor as a “patriot to his nation”, was forced into hiding and said it was “impossible” to make his way to Britain via a safe route.

He says he is one of many Afghan forces veterans who have been “forgotten” by the US and British forces, and believes the promise of “friendship and cooperation” has been abandoned.

The Independent believes that this hero – and all those who served alongside him – should be given the right to stay in the UK, which has since been backed by senior figures from across the armed forces and the political spectrum.

Sir Richard Dannatt

Sir Richard, former head of the British Army, argued the pilot was a “special case” for asylum and should be granted permission to stay.

The former head of the British Army said there was a “flaw” in the government policy if Afghans who helped British forces could be deported in the crackdown on small boat crossings.

Air Marshal Edward Stringer

Air Marshal Edward Stringer, the former head of RAF forces in Afghanistan, has backed our campaign to grant the Afghan veteran asylum - saying: “Now is the time for us to demonstrate the decency on which we so pride ourselves”.

The Afghan pilot must be offered a “safe haven” in the UK, the former director of operations at the Ministry of Defence said.

Lord Alf Dubs

Lord Alf Dubs – a child refugee who fled the Nazis before the Second World War – said the idea of deporting a pilot was “absolutely shocking” and accused Rishi Sunak’s government of “totally cruel” treatment.

The Labour peer called on the PM to make sure the veteran is allowed to stay. “If he risked his life for us, how can we possibly not consider giving him safety? The government must think again,” he said.

Former head of Nato Lord Robertson

The former head of Nato also leant his support to our campaign, saying it would be an “indefensible disgrace” if the Home Office carried out its threat to send him to Rwanda.

Lord Robertson, former secretary general of the military alliance, urged the government to show decency and give the pilot the respect and safety he deserves.

Sir Keir Starmer

In a dramatic intervention, Sir Keir said it was “a disgrace” that a brave pilot who fought alongside British troops faced “being forced out” of the UK.

The Labour leader also accused the government of a “shameful level of incompetence” as he called on ministers not to deport him.

Former defence minister Kevan Jones

Mr Jones described the pilot’s case as “a stain on Britain’s great reputation”.

He added: “We always stick by our friends. We should continue to do that. This government is clearly not doing that in this case and many others.”

Former international development secretary Rory Stewart

Mr Stewart said the pilot’s story was “profoundly shocking” because it went directly against the pledges made to those in Afghanistan.

“We are shirking our responsibilities towards Afghans who risked their lives to fight alongside us and who are now at risk of their lives.”

Sir Laurie Bristow

The British ambassador to Afghanistan during the summer of 2021 and the fall of Kabul, warned that the lives of Afghans who “worked for us and with us … are at risk as a result”.

He added that “many of our own service people owe their lives to Afghans who worked and fought alongside them in Afghanistan”.

General Sir Richard Barrons

The former chief of joint operations, who served in Afghanistan, said the pilot’s route to the UK should not affect his asylum chances.

“This should not be complicated,” he said. “This pilot is either entitled to come here or he’s not. The fact that he went through other countries to get here is not surprising considering the mess the government made with the evacuation process.”

Bear Grylls

The former SAS soldier who is now a survivalist and television adventurer urged ministers to “do right by those who have given so much to keep us safe”.

In an opinion piece for this website, Grylls writes: “Imagine braving the horrors of war to support the forces of a country that you don’t even live in, only to find that when you travel to that country for genuine sanctuary from horror, torture and the many other dangers of your own country (braving even more hardships along the way), you’re told that you aren’t acknowledged or wanted.”

Colonel Simon Diggins

Colonel Diggins, who served as a defence attache in Afghanistan and was involved in the Kabul evacuation, said: “We shouldn’t accept the terminology that he got here ‘illegally’; that is not the right language for people like him who have no other means of getting here safely.”

“It is appalling that this man who was in our allied forces is being treated in this way.”

Sir William Patey

The former British ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq warned of the extreme danger the war hero would have faced had he stayed in the country.

“He flew combat missions against the Taliban so obviously he would have been under direct threat of reprisal in Afghanistan; he would have been killed,” he said. “I really don’t see how he cannot get asylum or qualify under the various Afghan schemes. It’s a bit farcical that he is being threatened with Rwanda.”

Major General Tim Cross

Major General Tim Cross, who served in Iraq, the Balkans and Northern Ireland, described the case as one of “common sense, or rather the lack of it”.

He went on: “If this man was a member of Afghan forces fighting alongside the coalition then the risks to him are obvious. The whole Afghanistan withdrawal was terribly done, and cases like these are the human consequences of mistakes we made in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.”