Left Behind: America's Afghan Translators

We ask why many former Afghan translators for the US military risk their lives to return to Afghanistan from the US.



During more than a decade of the US occupation of Afghanistan, tens of thousands of Afghan civilians signed up to work with the American military as translators. They often took these jobs despite fears of Taliban reprisal, including death threats.

In exchange, the United States government promised a degree of protection through a visa programme that would provide safe passage to the US when the tasks were complete.

The visas, however, are never guaranteed. More than 10,000 Afghans who risked their lives to work with the US over the past 15 years are in limbo, as their applications for Special Immigrant Visas to the US remain in process.