Thank you to everyone who has signed our petition asking Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace MP to save the lives of Afghan British Council educators – it's great to have over 45,000 supporters now!
Sadly, we have still not received any word that Ben Wallace MP and the British government are having a change of heart, but we will not give up the struggle while we believe that some – hopefully all – of these educators are still alive.
The next step is to make sure Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace MP, finally responds to our campaign and personally takes action to save British Council educators from the Taliban.
Please will you take a minute to tweet Ben Wallace? I’ve made it really quick and easy for you - just click this link for a suggested tweet.
If you would like to write to your MP as well or instead, here are some key messages you can include:
- You’re one of over 45,000 people who have signed the change.org/SaveBritishCouncilEducatorsFromTheTaliban
- You want them to put pressure on Ben Wallace to fulfil his responsibility to Afghan British Council educators who have helped British interests in Afghanistan.
- British Council educators have often worked in hard-to-reach, remote areas at great personal risk. They have been at the forefront of efforts to win hearts and minds in Afghanistan. As such, they are known to the Taliban and their allies as spies and collaborators with Western “infidels”. Despite this, they have worked fearlessly for a peaceful and better future.
- The educators’ applications for settlement in the UK were rejected on the grounds that they were employed through service contracts, despite many of them having worked for over a decade for the British Council. They are all graduates, speak English well, and understand and appreciate British culture.
- Time is short - Ben Wallace has offered to personally review cases on his Twitter account but has not responded on this issue yet.
Thanks to your support, the campaign has been covered in the Daily Mail and the Guardian.