Jamal Barak’s joy at the recent arrival of his family in Britain has been tempered by sadness for the brother left behind in Afghanistan.
A former Afghan interpreter for the British Army, Mr Barak came to the English Midlands city of Coventry in 2015 on the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme.
He helped to bring his father, mother and their young children to the country last week but his brother, Mahmood, an interpreter who was shot 14 times by the Taliban, was told he did not qualify for resettlement.
“He feels incredibly hopeless, it doesn’t feel fair. When my parents told him they were leaving, his face dropped and he started crying. I spoke to him the other day and he begged me to get him out, the Taliban are harassing him and he’s scared,” Mr Barak told The National.
Mr Barak had been trying to get his father, Shista Gul, who worked as a gardener for the British Army in the military compound in Helmand Province for seven years, accepted on the Arap scheme since the beginning of the year but said his applications were repeatedly rejected by the Ministry of Defence and Home Office because “he didn’t meet the criteria”.
“It was extremely hard. I was fighting with the MoD 10 months, they refused his case several times because he was just a gardener,” said Mr Barak.
Officials eventually accepted Mr Gul’s application and he, his wife and four of his sons arrived in the UK from Pakistan last week. The family are completing their mandatory quarantine period in a hotel. Mr Barak said they were “incredibly happy to be safe” but felt anxious about the son they couldn’t bring with them.
Those accepted on Arap are allowed to bring spouses and dependents under 18 but as Mahmood is 20 he was told he did not qualify for relocation.
Mahmood worked as an interpreter for construction workers on Helmand Province military base. He was shot 14 times by the Taliban after they found out he worked with the British and he now walks with a limp. His parents were his primary carers and Mr Barak used to send money to help his brother but those avenues of assistance are now endangering Mahmood’s life. Mr Barak told The National that his brother had been detained and questioned by the Taliban for three days after they found out his family had fled.
“The situation in Helmand is really bad. He can’t work, there is no money but a Taliban commander told Mahmood that if they find out he has been talking to us here in the UK there would be consequences.”
“We’ve given a lot to this country. I was in the Army since 2007, I was shot three times by the Taliban. My older brother was killed by the Taliban. My father, uncle and younger brother all worked as interpreters with the British,” said Mr Barak, who explained that his family are regarded as an enemy by the hardline militants.
Mr Barak is now lodging a separate application for his brother to be accepted on the Arap scheme.
It isn’t just his own family for whom he’s concerned. The former soldier, who now works in a supermarket in Coventry, has been using his spare time to help other vulnerable Afghans reach safety.
“We’re trying our best to help those who have run away, with emails, filling forms, finding avenues for them to get out,” said Mr Barak, who is co-ordinating with some of the British soldiers he knows.
“I’m worried about the colleagues that have been left behind.”
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Brief scoreline:
Burnley 3
Barnes 63', 70', Berg Gudmundsson 75'
Southampton 3
Man of the match
Ashley Barnes (Burnley)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
The%20specs
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