LONDON: The United States is officially reviewing whether to grant asylum to an Afghan pilot whom the United Kingdom is threatening to deport to Rwanda, Western media reported on Tuesday.
The former pilot, whose identity has been withheld due to security reasons, flew dozens of combat missions targeting the Afghan Taliban and has been declared as a “patriot” by former Western allies.
Washington Contemplating Granting Asylum to Afghan Pilot Threatened with Deportation by London
According to Western media reports, the pilot arrived in the United Kingdom on a small ship via the English Channel as, he said, there were no safe paths for him to use.
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace declined to interfere after the pilot’s application to the Afghan refugee scheme was rejected in the current week, sparking uproar from prominent politicians and defense officials who said it was “shameful for London to turn its back on the war hero.”
While UK authorities have made no actions to prevent the Home Office from deporting the former air force pilot, Washington is now reviewing the pilot and his family’s asylum request.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said for London to “turn its back on a pilot” and fail to “do what is essential to keep to the agreement that we defend his life as he helped to guard ours is shameful.”
