Iraqi translators feel 'abandoned'
Updated on 24 May 2007
Jonathan Miller reports on how Iraqi translators working for the UK Army are being targeted by militias and feel they are being abandoned by the British.
For less than £10 a day, hundreds of Iraqis are putting their lives on the line as interpreters for the British Army in Basra. Many have now fled, having received death threats.
They claim they're being systematically targeted and murdered. The militias, jostling for control of Basra, consider them traitors. At least two have been killed this month.
Unlike the American government, which has announced plans to resettle 7,000 particularly vulnerable Iraqi refugees, the British government has made no such commitment.
Our foreign affairs correspondent, Jonathan Miller, tracked down four former British Army interpreters, all of them now on the run, who've appealed to Britain not to abandon them.
As Britain withdraws troops and prepares to hand over control of Basra, militias are battling British forces and each other for power; gunmen rule the streets.
Iraqi interpreters, who for four years have worked shoulder to shoulder with British troops - the crème de la crème of the brave new Iraq - are branded collaborators and legitimate targets.
Scores of them now on the run. Indelibly tainted, they're being hunted down, shot or beheaded, accused of betraying their country.
Now the interpreters feel betrayed by the British.
We spoke to one woman with gave a clutch of documents to us, some of the photographs, some of them official letters, letters from the British Army, all of which say she is who she says she is: a former interpreter with the British Army in southern Iraq.
She has fled, but her family remains in Iraq. For that reason we can't use her name, show her face or even say in which city we met her. We cannot even tell the stories she tearfully told me in case they identify her.
She said: "They are obligated to us. They said that they came to help us. What kind of help are they giving me now? They say they would protect us. What kind of protection are they giving me now? They say they came to give me freedom. I lost everything. They are obligated."
'What kind of help are they giving me now?'Interpreter
She never thought it would come to this.
She said: "I wanted to help my country, I wanted to help my people. I believed that we would have democracy, we will have freedom. I was so happy, so excited. New country, new life. New freedom."
In the beginning, interpreters worked openly with the British; they believed in the "New Iraq." Now we've had to conceal their identities.
'Interpreters working for the British were considered legitimate targets by some terrorists'
Roadside bombs
Since the invasion, they have run the gauntlet with the soldiers they shadow; roadside bombs, ambushes; raids and patrols. They're cultural advisors, the army's eyes and ears. And they're translators.
Now they're scattered across the Middle East; unable to go home, unable to stay. We know of many - but we've spoken to four.
These former interpreters are not paranoid there are no delusions here; their fear is real.
In another Arab capital, three interpreters have come loaded with letters of commendation, testimonials, certificates of service, and they make interesting reading.
One said: "It is widely known that interpreters working for the British were considered legitimate targets by some terrorists and other interpreters working from the logistics base were murdered during the time that he worked for me."
One of the men, we met "Mohammed" had narrowly escaped execution last month. He had been kidnapped by after leaving work on his way home - he claims by the Mahdi militia.
"At 8pm they took me and then they tortured me because I work with the British Army. They kicked me to give and told me to give them to the location of other interpreters. "
"Mohammed" was tracked down by Iraq intelligence rescued by the Iraqi Army. A detailed account of his abduction was filed with the criminal division of the Basra police. He'd been held for three days; he fled the country almost immediately.
We understand quite a few interpreters have been killed. There was one incident last year in which 17 such men had reportedly been killed. The men we spoke to confirmed this, saying those killed all worked for the Basra academy training to be interpreters.
The MoD has denied that these 17 killed were interpreters or employees of British forces. But these men knew them and insist they were translators, employed by the British.
Our contacts claim they have received no protection from the Home Office and have received many death threats, some by letter and phone, accusing of them being traitors.
The British government is aware of the plight of the three men I talked to. The Home Office has suggested they register with the UN refugee agency, whose offices in neighbouring capitals have been swamped by Iraqi refugees. The interpreters had appealed to Tony Blair not to abandon them.
The Home Office responded by saying: "...regarding the feasibility of possibly resettling some very vulnerable displaced Iraqis... discussions are at an early stage." The words "floodgates" and "opening" etched into the subtext.
As our former interpreters wait illegally in exile for an appointment at the UN refugee agency, they claim to have repeatedly sought assistance at the British embassy in the city concerned, but have been turned away every time. The British Foreign Office denies this.
'A'ameel'
The Arabic word for collaborator is a'ameel - literally, "agent". Last November, the British Army spokesman in Basra said there was "no evidence" that interpreters were being systematically targeted.
The Ministry of Defence was unable to tell Channel 4 News how many interpreters had been killed. Threats had been made to British Army employees just as threats had been made to ordinary Iraqi civilians, it said.
The MoD declined to answer questions regarding contractual obligations to local employees. It insisted they were given "regular security briefings to allow them to make informed decisions about personal security."
We have learned that as far back as 2003, senior British staff officers in Basra were made aware that interpreters were likely targets but other than these security briefings nothing was done.
A former soldier we talked to, who'd hired and worked with interpreters in southern Iraq, has also chosen to conceal his identity.
He told us: "There were certainly specific warnings that this could happen dating back to the summer of 2003 and I know of a number of people who aired concerns that interpeters were being put into positions which were putting their own lives at risk and that of their associates and their families. "
Thousands of local Iraqis got jobs with the British in Basra; drivers, cleaners, cooks, but interpreters were the brightest and best.
A lot of them are young graduates, trusting and full of hope for the future. Four years on, with Iraq - and their dreams -- turned upside down, many are now on the run, dumped by the very people they'd trusted and had wanted so much to help.
