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Duncan Lewis Solicitors successfully relocate Afghan Security Analyst & Interpreter and his family through leave outside the immigration rules. 

Public law Solicitor Jamie Bell and senior caseworker Mia Forton’s efforts have resulted in the relocation of an Afghan Military Liaison and interpreter.

The individual risked his life by providing core intelligence and security information from the Afghan Air Force to security contractors operating in Kabul prior to the Taliban take-over in August 2021. This information was key to ensuring that the US, UK and NATO forces were kept safe from Taliban insurgency. The Analyst and his family, including his two young daughters aged 1 and 4 years old, were at high risk of being killed by the Taliban due to his affiliation with Western forces in Afghanistan.

After being found as initially illegible under the Afghanistan Relocation and Assistance Policy [‘ARAP’] in 2022, Duncan Lewis Solicitors challenged the misapplication of the UK Government’s ARAP policy for the individual via judicial review proceedings.  He, his wife and daughters finally arrived in the UK on 21 November 2024.

The ARAP scheme, launched prior to the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, is for ‘for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan in exposed or meaningful roles’. If found eligible under the scheme the applicant, their partner, dependent children and any additional eligible family members are relocated to the UK and granted Indefinite Leave to Remain.

The Ministry of Defence found he was not eligible for the scheme, as he had not demonstrated sufficient close formal relationship between himself or the security contractors for which he worked, and the UK forces. It also found the substance of his work and the extent to which the substance of the work closely supported and assisted the UK Government did not meet the threshold for relocation.

Duncan Lewis Solicitous argued that this was irrational and that Ministry of Defence had misinterpreted or misapplied the ARAP scheme and had not properly taken into account the substance of the analyst’s work and the extent to which it closely supported and assisted the British mission in Afghanistan.

During this period, the analyst and his young daughters were living in Pakistan without lawful leave putting them at risk of deportation back to Afghanistan. The Administrative Court granted expedition as it was acknowledged by Chamberlain J that the analyst was and his young family were at ongoing risk.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors initiated judicial review proceedings with Sarah Pinder at Goldsmiths Chambers and Catherine Meredith at Doughty Street Chambers acting as counsel. The Ministry of Defence subsequently issued and was granted a declaration under s6 Security and Justice Act 2013 allowing for CLOSED material (sensitive national security information) to be seen by the Court; Ashley Underwood KC acted as the Analyst’s Special Advocate advocating for his interests in CLOSED.

The Ministry of Defence finally conceded the Analyst’s case, settling judicial review proceedings on the basis that the Analyst would be provided an offer of leave outside the immigration rules entitling him to the same provisions of the ARAP scheme. Duncan Lewis Solicitors have been awarded full costs in relation to the challenge.

This case follows the previous commitment and persistence of Jamie Bell and Mia Lucy Forton in representing Afghan claimants. This case shed light on the erroneous decisions within the UK resettlement schemes in practice limiting the eligibility of those who have assisted the UK mission in Afghanistan. The success of this case paves the way forward for more individuals who supported the British mission to relocate to the UK.

Jamie Bell is an experienced solicitor at Duncan Lewis in the public law team recognised as a Recommended Lawyer in the 2025 Legal 500. He has significant expertise in a wide variety of complex and high profile cases and a leader in the field in representing Afghan nationals in the asylum appeal and judicial review claim with great success. He is willing to act under extreme time pressures to ensure that justice is achieved for his clients.

Mia Forton is a senior caseworker under the supervisor of Jamie Bell. She takes instructions on a wide array of public law challenges and has growing expertise within strategic litigation challenging decisions regarding the ACRS and ARAP resettlement schemes. She has experience working sensitively with vulnerable clients in unpredictable situations, whilst gathering evidence at pace, allowing clients to disclose sensitive issues in order to advance their case.

Jamie Bell can be contacted at jamieb@duncanlewis.com or via telephone at 020 3114 1184.  Mia Forton can be contacted at miaf@duncanlewis.com or via telephone at 020 3114 1219.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors, an award-winning law firm, is renowned for its exceptional legal services and commitment to justice. The company employs a team of highly skilled solicitors offering top-tier representation in 25 fields of law, and ranked as top tier by the Chambers and the Legal 500 legal guides, and as one of the top 250 law firms in the country by the Times. Duncan Lewis was crowned Law Firm of the Year at the Modern Law Awards 2023, further establishing its credentials as one of the leading law firms in the UK.