Campaigners Urge Relaxation of Citizenship Rules to Allow Afghan Veterans to Join British Army
Campaigners are calling for a relaxation of citizenship rules to enable Afghan veterans to join the British Army and help fill recruitment gaps. Noor Aziz Ahmadzai, an Afghan special forces veteran, is among over 1,400 Afghans and their families who have been homeless since the UK began offering sanctuary in August 2021.
Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat has criticized the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for failing to ease the citizenship requirements, arguing that the skills of Afghan exiles justify immediate eligibility to join the army. Noor, who trained at Sandhurst and served as deputy commander of an Afghan counter-terrorism unit, also helped rescue diplomats during crises in Kabul.
After the Taliban takeover in 2021, Noor was briefly arrested but escaped with assistance. His mother's asylum request was rejected, limiting their contact. Resettlement schemes for Afghans have since closed to new applicants; since August 2021, 37,218 Afghans have been brought to the UK, with an additional 7,300 arrivals revealed by a data leak.
Over a period of four years, 1,405 Afghan households have reported homelessness. Noor experienced homelessness before being sheltered by a veteran and later finding security work. Currently, British Army eligibility requires citizenship, and indefinite leave to remain is insufficient—applicants must have resided in the UK for five years before applying.
RUSI analyst Ed Arnold noted that forming an Afghan veteran unit similar to the Gurkhas would face security, cost, and political challenges and could be hard to integrate. The MoD stated that the government remains committed to supporting Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) relocated Afghans, providing up to nine months of transitional accommodation and work rights. However, army eligibility continues to be subject to standard criteria.
