David Miliband's speech in full

Compensation and resettlement packages for several hundred Iraqis employed by the British Government could cost the Foreign and Commonwealth Office up to £25 million.

In a written statement to the Commons yesterday, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, set out the details of the assistance to Iraqi interpreters and other staff who will be offered the chance to resettle in Britain or receive cash to help them to relocate in the region.

Last night interpreters on the main British base in Basra appeared to be unaware of the latest details of the assistance package until contacted by The Times, which has led a two-month campaign on their behalf.

Hundreds of Iraq interpreters rebuffed by UK

Nearly half of applications to settle in Britain have been rejected by the MoD already despite safety fears

Multimedia

• Video: the online war

• Pictures: Life in Iraq

BACKGROUND

• Story of brothers who worked for the British

• I’ve no regrets, says interpreter

• What’s Arabic for ‘we’ll stand by you’?

• Abandoned: the 91 Iraqis who risked all

Related Links

• Iraqi interpreters to get either cash or refuge

• Interpreters wait for Brown to decide fate

• Betrayal of Iraqi interpreters

After reading through the Government’s statement, one senior interpreter was left speechless with relief. “For me, this decision means that the British Government has saved the lives of two children and a lady,” said M. Saraj, referring to his wife and two young children. “I think that they have appreciated all the efforts we have made, according to what I am reading. Thank you for the British Government, they have respected our rights. I have no words.”

In his statement, Mr Miliband acknowledged that Britain owed “our Iraqi staff an enormous debt of gratitude for their dedicated service”. Thousands of Iraqis have worked for the British since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 but only a few hundred are likely to benefit from the scheme.

Only Iraqis employed in skilled jobs who worked continuously for the British for 12 months since January 2005 will be eligible.

Serving staff, numbering 280, can choose three options:

* a one-off cash payment equivalent to one month’s salary for every two served with further payment for up to five dependants

* transport and resettlement to Britain as visitors on condition that they have a reference from their former employer in the military, the FCO or the Department for International Development

* resettlement to Britain as refugees under the UK Gateway programme. Up to 600 places are being reserved for former Iraqi staff and their dependants.

The 400 to 500 former staff, who qualify for help, are only being offered the cash payment or the option of settling in Britain as asylum seekers.

This last provision caused concern among some former interpreters living in Iraq who will not be eligible for “exceptional leave” to enter Britain. Instead, they would have to apply through a special refugee programme, which would involve travelling to Syria or Jordan to become registered as refugees - a process that is difficult and can take months.

“I have to apply for asylum but how do I do this?” asked one interpreter who was forced to leave his job last year after working alongside British soldiers since autumn 2003. He asked for his name not to be published for fear of reprisals. “I want to survive. We are waiting to learn how we can apply,” the man said.

A few days ago, this former interpreter sent a desperate e-mail to The Times about his situation. “When I left my work [with the British Forces] I thought I would be all right, but I was mistaken because I was threatened four months ago by mobile phone,” he wrote. “They [the militia] said: ‘We know you are a spy. We will kill you and kill all the traitors and clean the country from you, whenever and wherever we find you’."

After receiving this message, the young man fled his house in Basra and went into hiding. “I am sure the militia will kill me if they find me. I don't want to die,” he wrote. “Please tell your government about our suffering. We are here in danger. If the asylum takes time, we could be dead, surely dead, before having the asylum … please tell the relevant officials to speed up the procedures. They can either fly us from Iraq or give us visas and supervise our travel through the neighbouring countries to the United Kingdom.”

There are also concerns that the application procedure, available on the FCO website, is too bureaucratic and complicated for applicants, many of whom are living in hiding in Iraq or as refugees in neighbouring countries.

When the Danish military withdrew from Iraq they airlifted several hundred Iraqi staff and their families to start a new life in Denmark.

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on international development, said that the Government should not have restricted assistance to only those who had worked 12 months. “The Government is treating these people like they are applying for means-tested benefits - not like people who are fleeing for their lives,” she said.

“The 12 months service eligibility criteria is ridiculous. Assessed risk, rather than length of service, should be the main criterion for granting asylum or resettlement packages. The death squads in Iraq don't stop to ask how long interpreters served for us, so why are we?”

Dan Hardie, who has campaigned on behalf of Iraqis working for the British, said that he had received e-mails from Iraqi interpreters who had worked for less than 12 months but still had to flee to Syria after being threatened by death squads. “They are penny-pinching at the expense of people's lives,” he said.

Mark Brockway, a former soldier who served in Iraq and has been lobbying on behalf of Iraqis employed by the British, said that he was encouraged by the announcement, but wanted to see how the new policy would work in practice.

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