Afghanistan and Denmark recently signed a long-term partnership agreement that comprises commitment of the Danish government to remain involved in Afghanistan after it pulls out its security forces. The role of Danish government will be non-combat and more focused on economy, education and infra-structure development of Afghanistan after 2014. Signing long-term partnership agreement with various economically, politically and militarily strong countries are being deemed as ‘pivotal’ for the future stability of Afghanistan.

Another point which came out of the official visit of President Hamid Karzai to Denmark was his stance on the security of the lives of interpreters who have assisted coalition forces in Afghanistan. The issue of whether Afghan interpreters will be provided asylum in Denmark, Sweden and Norway has turned into a hot issue these days as some other countries like the US, Canada and New Zealand have been issuing permanent visas to Afghans who have assisted their mission in Afghanistan.

In a press conference with Danish Prime Minister, Thorning-Schmidt, Mr. Kazai answering a question on the safety of Afghan interpreters said, “Interpreters for Denmark can feel safe in Afghanistan.” This comes at times when the European countries have been deporting large numbers of Afghan asylum seekers in the recent months.

A huge number of Afghans are seeking refuge in European and other Western countries to escape violence in their homeland. Nonetheless, the Afghan government has been urging those countries to send back Afghan asylum seekers without having any rational plan to secure their lives and provide them job opportunities.

Taliban have been openly threatening to kill those Afghans who been assisting the US and its allies. Targeting such individuals is easy for insurgents as there is no specific arrangement to secure their lives. In insecure provinces of Afghanistan like Kandahar, Helmand, Urozgan, Zabul, Ghazni and so on, Afghans working with NATO forces or US non-military projects are threatened by throwing letters in their homes and calling on their cell phones. Over the last eleven years, scores of interpreters and individuals working for Western countries have been targeted. The Afghan government, however, has been issuing statements without having conducted any proper analyses of the situation.

After the withdrawal of US-led forces, the first target of the insurgents will be Afghans who have assisted the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Although such individuals have risked their lives by providing such assistance, certain countries seem reluctant to provide them asylum to ensure their safety. This is the moral obligation of NATO countries to protect Afghans who have endangered their lives just for their mission by providing them asylum.