The pressure was mounting over who should be eligible for refuge in the UK. A group of UK broadcasters and newspaper editors wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary appealing for an urgent special visa programme for Afghan journalists, translators and support staff who had worked with British media organizations over the previous 20 years and whose lives were at risk from the Taliban. They noted the UK’s championing of media freedom, and cited the Taliban’s campaign of targeted killings of journalists.
Wednesday 4 August 2021
Edited extract from Kabul: Final Call by Laurie Bristow.