Hello everyone who was kind enough to take an interest in the case of Khushal all the way back in 2015. Seems like a lifetime ago, however, during all that time, he has still not recieved any decision on whether his asylum application will be granted or not.

This has left him in a state of limbo for a long time, and the only reason we have been given by the home office for the very long delay is that the case is deemed in the category "complicated".  The typical time indicated by the government for a decision is 6 months, Khushal has been waiting 4 years.

As evidence supporting his case we have, amongst other things, independently verified death threat letters from the Taliban and a report by NATO officials in Afghanistan, gained by a freedom of information style request, that confirms the likely authenticity of his account, in addition to his service record as a UK military interpreter.  Combined with the murder of his brother, it is hard to see how much more evidence could be needed to confirm that Khushal is "unable to go back (to his country) because (he) fears persecution" - thereby meeting the UK criteria for asylum.  His persecution is clearly for political reasons - i.e. he has taken the government side in an ongoing, vicious civil war.

While he has been awaiting this decision, and therefore unable to get on with a career (to pay his own way), drive a car, or live a normal life, we have seen many other asylum seekers, with very little in the way of compelling evidence that they have any specific threat against them, granted asylum in a very short space of time.  It's hard to know what the reasoning is behind this, other than perhaps fear of setting some kind of precedent.

Either way, Khushal has finally been promised he will receive news this week!  As a result, I thought I'd get back in touch with all of you who were kind enough to sign the petition on his behalf in 2015 and let you know (hopefully) to expect news shortly.  I'll be making updates on a twitter account I've set up, linked below, so please feel free to follow there, and I'll post in here occasionally too - hopefully with some good news.

https://twitter.com/TyldesleyGeorge

Thanks again for your interest and support!