Afghanistan: Swansea veteran emotional after seeing interpreter in UK

A former paramedic who served in Afghanistan has described seeing her interpreter and his family arrive safely in the UK as "very emotional".

Rachel Pompa, from Swansea, was based in Helmand province in 2006 and 2007, treating casualties during the war.

One of the people she worked most closely with during that time was her Afghan interpreter.

She remained friends with Mohammad - not his real name, and they have kept in touch for the past 15 years.

She said: "Our contact built more recently, from the end of 2020, as he was part of a bigger process to try to move to America or the UK, but as things have escalated so fast and they were in extreme danger, he's managed to make it to the UK."

Mohammad arrived in the UK a few days ago with his wife and five children.

They are currently in quarantine at a hotel in England and waiting to find out where in the UK they will be able to live.

Speaking via video call from his hotel room, Mohammad told Ms Pompa: "The last couple of weeks was very difficult and no-one was expecting this.

"To get to the airport for us was very, very difficult. The Taliban was beating people but finally we get here. Unfortunately, there are still some friends stuck in Kabul.

"Getting to the British forces inside the airport is very difficult. There are like six, seven [Taliban] check points before you get there."

Mohammad also said he knew of another interpreter friend who managed to make it into the airport, but his wife was still stuck outside.

Ms Pompa said much of her work as a paramedic in Afghanistan would not have been possible without the help of Afghan interpreters.

"We had a couple of interpreters attached to us and they were with us throughout, sleeping in our tents, coming on every mission, they were with us 24/7," she said.

"We couldn't have done our jobs without them, especially given the casualties we were picking up at the time weren't just British soldiers.

"They were sometimes Afghan nationals, French, as well as Taliban. We needed their linguistic skills to be able to interpret for us - they were absolutely vital," she said.

Ms Pompa recalls a particular incident she experienced alongside Mohammad when they came under fire from the Taliban as they arrived in an area with 24 casualties.

She said they managed to evacuate them all and return them safely to the field hospital.

"I can't thank everyone enough really. From the Chinook pilots, the crew and the Afghan interpreters who risked their lives to help us," she said.

Reflecting on her time in Afghanistan and seeing the Taliban tighten its grip on the country once again, she added: "It saddens me that 20 years ago we started making a difference.

"I think we did make a difference.

"I'm proud to have served in Afghanistan and proud to have helped.

"We did save lives. The country was in a better position for our work there and now it's just really sad and frightening about what could happen next and sad to think of the families that are there.

"The Afghan people are lovely, lovely people and no country should face what they're currently facing."

Mohammad told Ms Pompa he feels very safe now he is in the UK with his family.

He said: "I feel like I am with my own people."

Ms Pompa has already paid a short visit to see him, stopping by the hotel where Mohammad and his family remain in quarantine to drop off donations of clothes and toiletries.

After posting on Facebook about the arrival of Afghan refugees in the UK, she said she has been "overwhelmed" by the number of donations from friends and others in the local area.

She added Mohammad hopes it might be possible to move his family to Wales in the future.

"I did see them at the weekend to drop off some donations. I managed to see them from their hotel balcony for five minutes and it was very, very emotional. I don't think any of us could believe it's actually happened.

"We hope to meet up as families and help his children settle here. It's heart-warming. He has five children and I have two and they are similar ages. My girls want to help his children settle in this country if they can. It makes me proud."