Afghan translators to get student support

The Scottish Government has announced it will change the rules to allow interpreters who worked for the UK armed forces in Afghanistan go to university or college.

The move rectifies an anomaly which saw more than 300 former Afghan interpreters shut out of support to become students, unlike their Iraqi counterparts, or most refugees.

Ms Somerville said the rules of the scheme governing eligibility for student support would be changed, in recognition of the contribution interpreters had made in their service to the UK and to armed forces, including those deployed to Afghanistan from communities all around Scotland.

Mohammed Asif, director of the Afghan Human Rights Foundation, launched the campaign to win a change of policy to allow the translators to access higher education.

 

 

Image credit: Thomas’s pics, Flickr