British media outlets call for Afghan staff to get UK visas

A group of British newspapers and broadcasters have sent an open letter to the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to expand the refugee visa program for Afghans who worked for UK media over the past 20 years.

More than 20 media outlets signed the letter, the UK’s Guardian reported.

“There is an urgent need to act quickly, as the threat to their lives is already acute and worsening,” the letter said.

“If left behind, those Afghan journalists and media employees who have played such a vital role informing the British public by working for British media will be left at the risk of persecution, of physical harm, incarceration, torture, or death,” the letter stated.

This comes after the US media made a similar appeal last month to the Biden administration to provide visas to journalists who had worked for American news organizations in Afghanistan.

According to the Guardian, the signatories to the British letter represent a coalition that includes broadcasters Sky and ITN, and all major British newspapers from the Guardian, the Times and the Financial Times to the Daily Mail and the Sun, and weekly magazine the Economist.

The National Union of Journalists and press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders have also put their names to the demand for a path to safety for journalists with UK links, modelled on the visa route for military interpreters, reported the Guardian.

The letter was sent to Boris Johnson and the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab