Australia should evacuate under siege Afghan interpreters

We have a moral, ethical and legal duty of care to evacuate those civilians from Afghanistan who supported us in battle, writes Alan Jones.

I suppose few Australians have heard of the word “Terps.” But those who have are indignant at the attitude of the Australian Government towards such people.

“Terps” are the Afghan interpreters who worked under Australian command in Afghanistan. They fought side-by-side with our troops.

Other Afghanis have also provided essential services to Australian soldiers in some of the bloodiest battles in Afghanistan.

Australia has now closed its embassy in Kabul and we will be withdrawing our troops.

The Taliban have threatened to take over and return Afghanistan to the “old days,” which means, simply, the brutal elimination of the “enemy’’.

A security personnel stands guard in front of an entrance gate near the Australian embassy at the Green Zone in Kabul. Picture: AFP

Among the “enemy” are those who assisted our Australian troops, including interpreters and a host of locally involved civilians who worked with our Defence Forces and other Government agencies, not forgetting the subjugated vulnerable — girls, women and minorities.

Already, a number of these interpreters and civilians have been murdered. Many are in hiding or on the run, their lives under constant threat. To abandon these people would be the worst of all moral failures. But our response is only marginally short of abandonment.

The movement, Forsaken Fighters, shouldn’t be necessary. The words themselves are an indictment of Government.

Why is it left to these groups to provide support for veterans, including advocacy? Why do we have a Department of Veterans’ Affairs if groups like this, and others, have to dedicate themselves to assist veterans returning to a civilian workplace?

But above all, why does Forsaken Fighters have to find a voice for interpreters who wore the Australian uniform in Afghanistan and assisted our troops at great personal risk to themselves and their families?

A legitimate and burning question is — where is our national government?

Former Maryborough RSL CEO Jason Scanes has quit to focus on his fight to bring the Afghani interpreter, who stood by him in the War on Terror, to Australia.

I have spoken to Jason Scanes, who is the CEO of Forsaken Fighters.

I learnt of a threatening letter signed by a Taliban “guerrilla operations commander,” taped to the front door of a translator’s home after his address was identified by the jihadist fighters.

In what is simply a death sentence, the message said “ … we will get you … await your death very soon … we have tried to kill you by hitting you with a vehicle, but unfortunately you did not die …”

Surely Australia has a moral duty to get these interpreters and other Afghan ground staff out of Afghanistan.

Or are these members of the Afghan family to become the modern way walers, the Australian riding horses of the 19th century, bred in NSW.

They, too, assisted Australian soldiers in the early 20th century, in the second Boer War and World War One. The waler was the backbone of the Australian Light Horse.

At the end of the First World War, while some of the walers were sold to the British army, others were destroyed.

Parting with the walers was one of the hardest events the light-horsemen had to endure. And so it is with our men who served in Afghanistan, who feel desperate about the plight of the “Terps”. Are they to be today’s walers, no longer of any use?

Is this what is to happen to Afghanis now on a Taliban kill list for working alongside “infidel enemies” over the last 20 years?

It is often forgotten by those in suits and many in the media that Afghanistan has been our longest war.

It was complex and remote, conducted in a country with impossibly harsh terrain, against an enemy not easily identifiable.

As Jason Scanes said to me, with the Brereton report in mind: “I served in Afghanistan and other regions of the Middle East for around 18 months. It was serious work.’’

“It was conducted in a dangerous, unpredictable and unforgiving landscape against a resourceful and resilient group that used unconventional and less than noble tactics … with the calm of freedom and safety won for all Australians, we now have the benefit of hindsight to sit and judge the brave.

“As a nation, I see no gain in persecuting our soldiers, Australia’s best soldiers, who are trained to act and make split second decisions that cost lives.”

But then he said this: “The biggest Afghan war crime would be for the Australian Government to leave behind those Afghans, who put themselves and their families at risk to assist our troops – leave them to certain death at the hands of insurgent groups.”

The Government must urgently evacuate the Afghan interpreters and locally employed civilians who worked with us.

Chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) General Angus Campbell speaks during Senate Estimates at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Picture: AAP

Make no mistake, since 2013, a number who risked their lives for our men have been murdered by the Taliban. But our government says they “need to fill out their visa application.” How can you do that when you’re on the run?

Dr Kay Danes has worked in the Middle East and Afghanistan and has endured torture and mock executions when held hostage.

She argues that even with her PhD, she would be unable to fill out the pages and pages of these visa applications.

Angus Campbell is the Head of Defence. He was one of many in charge of operations in Afghanistan.

He has failed on the Brereton issue and here is illuminated another failure.

What were Campbell and others doing at headquarters in Dubai if not writing up contingencies in response to what would happen if the allies left?

Al Minhad Airbase is a military installation, 15 miles south of Dubai. It is currently the headquarters of Joint-Taskforce 633 and supports, or is supposed to support, Australian operations in the Middle East.

It has been used as our main transport and logistics hub since our withdrawal from Iraq.

Its mandate is: “To support the sustainment of Australian Defence Force operations, enable contingency planning and enhance regional relationships in the Middle East region.”

Given that the facility is massive, caters for thousands of people and meets all medical needs along with accommodation, why can’t it be used to process those Afghanis who supported our troops?

I believe the majority of Australians would say that we have a moral, ethical and legal duty of care to evacuate those civilians from Afghanistan who supported us.

Forget the fancy language. What has happened to date is not much short of abandonment.

Our Government needs to understand the urgency of this.

It is a couple of minutes to midnight.