US firm to help track down Afghan interpreters

Defence minister gets Mission Essential Personnel to agree to reach out to the 37 interpreters it hired for the Danish forces and who could be entitled to asylum

The American firm that hired Afghan interpreters for the Danish forces has agreed to help the Defence Ministry track them down.

In May, the government offered to help the almost 200 interpreters who were hired to assist the Danish forces and whose lives may now be at risk after the withdrawal of Danish forces. Depending on the level of risk they face, the interpreters could either be offered help in Afghanistan or the opportunity of asylum in Denmark.

While 17 interpreters have applied for help, the government had no information about the identities of 37 interpreters who were hired through the US firm Mission Essential Personnel (MEP).

MEP had previously ignored Defence Ministry requests for information about the interpreters but today, the defence minister, Nicolai Wammen (Socialdemokraterne), announced from Washington that he had made a deal with the head of MEP.

“If Afghan interpreters approach the Danish authorities and say that they have worked for us through the Americans we can now check if that is right,” Wammen told DR Nyheder. “And if it is correct that we can quickly start to process their case.”

Wammen is in the US to meet with US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel, but took the time to reach out to MEP after announcing that resolving the issue of the Afghan interpreters was his ministry’s top priority.

“I think the military and my predecessor’s efforts to get in touch with the firm have been good,” Wammen said, referring to the former defence minister, Nick Hækkerup (Socialdemokraterne). “But as minister, I decided to push the issue.”

MEP has agreed to provide information about the interpreters to the Danish government as well as to reach out directly to the interpreters and inform them of their rights to seek help from the Danish authorities.

TOP STORIES

  • Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    China’s 12 leading wind turbine makers have signed a pact to end a domestic price war that has seen turbines sold at below cost price in a race to corner the market and which has compromised quality and earnings in the sector.

  • Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Novo Nordisk’s TV commercial for the slimming drug Wegovy has been shown roughly 32,000 times and reached 8.8 billion US viewers since June.

  • Retention is the new attraction

    Retention is the new attraction

    Many people every year choose to move to Denmark and Denmark in turn spends a lot of money to attract and retain this international talent. Are they staying though? If they leave, do they go home or elsewhere? Looking at raw figures, we can see that Denmark is gradually becoming more international but not everyone is staying. 

  • Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen attended the Association of the Unites States Army’s annual expo in Washington DC from 14 to 16 October, together with some 20 Danish leading defence companies, where he says Danish drone technology attracted significant attention.

  • Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors, pharmacies and politicians have voiced concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s inability to supply opioid prescriptions in smaller packets, and the resulting over-prescription of addictive morphine pills, could spur levels of opioid abuse in Denmark.

  • Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Residents of cooperative housing associations in Copenhagen and in Frederiksberg distribute vacant housing to their own family members to a large extent. More than one in six residents have either parents, siblings, adult children or other close family living in the same cooperative housing association.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs