An Afghan man who worked as an interpreter for the defence ministry during the Dutch mission in Uruzgan has been refused asylum in the Netherlands.

Abdul Ghafoor Ahmadzai fled Afghanistan in 2010 after his brother was murdered when he was mistaken for Ahmadzai, the NRC reports.

The interpreter went first to Norway where he was denied asylum. He then came to the Netherlands but lost his case on appeal.

No reasons

According to the immigration service: ‘there are no legal or moral reasons why he should be allowed to stay’.

Ahmadzai will be sent back to Norway where he will be deported back to Afghanistan.

Around 120 locals worked for the Dutch as interpreters in Uruzgan between 2006 and 2010.

Agreement

Several European countries who were involved in the Afghan war have a collective agreement on asylum for their interpreters. However, the Dutch government did not want to take part, the NRC says.

‘Asylum requests are judged on an individual basis, but working for the Netherlands in Afghanistan is taken into account,’ the government said.