Nearly two decades have passed, but Sammy remembers his father’s words clearly.

Then a young professional, Sammy was out for a walk with his family in 2007 when they came across a convoy of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) vehicles, he told me in a recent interview. His little brother asked what ISAF was, and why these troops were in Afghanistan. His father, a legal scholar, said of the multinational forces: “For three decades following the Soviet invasion, our country didn’t enjoy a single day of peace. … Now, luckily, the US and its allies have come to bring calm and peace to our country, to help us develop and grow — to weed out the bad elements that have impeded progress.”

In the late 1970s, Soviet forces invaded the country, resulting in a devastating war that claimed hundreds of thousands of Afghan lives and left many others injured and disabled. A US-led coalition of European and Middle Eastern allies provided crucial support to Afghan fighters, ultimately enabling them to defeat the Soviet forces. Sammy’s father believed that had it not been for this assistance, the Afghans would have been powerless against the Soviets.

But the Soviet defeat was not the dawn of a peaceful new era as many had hoped it would be. Instead, it marked the beginning of a vicious civil war. Various factions within Afghanistan turned on each other, leading to a conflict that tore families and communities apart. This chaotic period eventually led to the rise of the Taliban, who seized control of the country in 1996 and ruled until 2001. Following the regime’s defeat, the UN deployed ISAF forces to Afghanistan in a bid to keep the peace during a period of governmental transition. Holding up the hope that these troops would provide the Afghan people the same existential relief a previous generation of allies had, Sammy’s father said, “These forces are giving us what we deserve, what’s right.”

Moved by their father’s words, Sammy and his brother asked how they could help support these forces. He encouraged them to become translators, saying: “They are foreigners and they need to be able to communicate with people in Dari and Pashto to help us. You are educated and can speak English. You could provide a great deal of help by interpreting with them.”

Sammy left his position as a computer teacher at a Kabul high school, and he and his brother began training to become interpreters for the US military. They were assigned to southern Afghanistan — an especially perilous assignment at the time. He remembers those early years fondly, saying he and his brother were dedicated to the cause and that they worked hard. They endured extreme temperatures, physical exhaustion, and dust storms that made it difficult to breathe, but he says he never complained. Over the years, Sammy faced increasingly complex dilemmas, ranging from death threats to an elaborate attempt by a Taliban loyalist to bribe him to quit his position.

He maintains that he always refused to cede the moral high ground.

The Taliban’s Return

Sammy could not have imagined how it would end — with the Taliban’s resurgence in 2021.

Initially, Sammy was hopeful he and his family would be evacuated by the departing US forces. He spent each day at the airport with his wife and three-year-old daughter. He describes harrowing scenes from those early post-resurgence days — screams for help, crying children, throbbing crowds of would-be refugees, suffocatingly hot weather, and inadequate access to food and water. After his daughter sustained a head injury in the commotion and his wife’s health began to suffer, his hope for evacuation dimmed, but he knew he needed to continue fighting for a way out.

Rumors were proliferating that the Taliban was hungry to persecute Afghans who it saw as having supported the foreign forces. He heard that interpreters were key targets. He explains that in the Taliban’s view, Afghan interpreters were the eyes, ears, and mouths of the foreign forces who successfully kept them at bay for more than a decade. If there were no interpreters, they would not have been able to achieve anything, the logic goes.

Each day, he would hear tales of Taliban fighters showing up to homes of people thought to have helped the foreign forces, arresting them in the night. Every moment was saturated with dread. To make matters worse, a newly appointed high-ranking Taliban commander had it out for him personally.

As mentioned above, a Taliban loyalist had previously offered Sammy a bribe in exchange for his resignation. After he refused, the man was arrested and detained at the Bagram Air Force Base by US forces. Upon the Taliban’s return to power, he was released and appointed to a position of power. Shortly thereafter, he began sending threats to Sammy and his family members.

He was forced into hiding, and has remained on the run for nearly three years. It was against this backdrop that his father revisited his 2007 advice, telling Sammy: “I wish I had never encouraged you to become an interpreter. I wish you were an illiterate man with a simple job — you would be safe and sound.”

Clinging to Hope

Amid efforts to find a way out, Sammy applied for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), a visa made available to foreign nationals for dedicated and successful service to the US abroad. Requirements for SIVs vary. Afghan translators and interpreters are eligible for these visas after 12 months of service, so long as they are able to obtain proof of employment and a recommendation letter from their direct supervisor.

Sammy was optimistic that this would ultimately help his family flee to safety. He exceeded the time-in-service requirement several times over and he promptly obtained a letter of recommendation from his supervisor. But his efforts to escape to the country he assisted have yet to pan out; the company that was contracted to hire him on the US military’s behalf, he says, went silent soon after the US withdrawal, failing to respond to numerous calls and emails. He says that he has endeavored to present badges, letters, and other forms of evidence of his period supporting the US, but has been told that without a formal letter from the hiring company, he is out of luck.

When his application was rejected, Sammy’s wife experienced a mental health crisis, from which she has yet to recover — spending each day gripped in terror, always watching the door in case the Taliban comes to take her husband away.

During our interview, Sammy explained that what he wants most is to be respectfully afforded his due, and granted passage to the US. He wants all of the foreign nations who vowed to help their people escape to act on their promises. Far too many people like Sammy remain hiding in the shadows, waiting for a way out, fearful of facing unthinkable treatment for this very support.

Sammy provided critical support to the US in Afghanistan.

His fate should not be dictated by red tape.

He deserves better.

The author is an anonymous Afghan legal scholar who cannot be identified publicly due to security concerns.