Public sentiment is mixed regarding the release of the US citizen from Taliban detention. While many express relief and hope for improved relations, others voice skepticism about government handling of international negotiations, immigration policies, and broader geopolitical implications. The comments reveal frustrations with the complexity of the situation and political affiliations influencing perspectives.

US Government

Taliban

American Citizens

Snapshot of _Taliban commander's nephew granted asylum in UK can be joined by SEVEN family members even though none can speak English, judge rules_ submitted by Putaineska:

An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&amp;url=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15142311/amp/Taliban-commanders-nephew-asylum-SEVEN-family-members.html)  or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&amp;url=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15142311/amp/Taliban-commanders-nephew-asylum-SEVEN-family-members.html)         


*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ukpolitics) if you have any questions or concerns.*

AutoModerator

The politicians could have stopped this years ago.

Ubiquitous1984

I can't understand why the family couldn't not stay in Turkey and if he want to be with them he goes back.

StGuthlac2025

So the judge admitted they would be a burden on our society, then okayed it anyway????

misnomer88

The judge also accepts they’ll be a burden on the UK tax payer but perceives this as palatable?!? So…what’s even the point anymore? Just pay an extortionate amount of tax for 6 co-dependant migrants with no English and therefore no contribution to the country.


What about our humans right not be to cash cows whacked by the government when a judge makes a decision we’re now financially responsible for?

VelvetDreamers

I know it's outrage porn, but people are outraged. Like I know older people who have lived entire lives trying to be as small a burden on public society as possible, old ladies who'd put off calling the doctor because they don't want to make a fuss and bother the doctor, those types. Just living out a humble existence.

And really what was the point of it all when you hear cases like this?

NoRecipe3350

This case has it all, even his nephew lying about his age which we’ve been told doesn’t happen.

LUFC_shitpost

FartingRainbowz

Stuff like this really makes me question why I even bother paying tax other than the threat of violence if I don't.

I will never pay enough tax to fund just 1 of those while decisions are made by people that don't understand that each right we have is dualistic with a corresponding responsibility.

The right for those people even if they were lovely people to be housed by our state comes with the responsibility of people like me to pay for it.

That responsibility even in good economic times would have passed any reasonable point let alone what we face now.

Black_Fish_Research

Electric-Lamb

And I had to move to Germany because I didn't earn enough to bring my wife here and her job isn't in the list for working visas. I'm left leaning but this shit boils my piss.

RafikiSykes

Stopping the boats wont be enough, we’re going to need a unit to review past asylum claims. Its just completely bogus

Successful_Service53

911roofer

Luckily the country has loads of money and social resources to give these people to ensure integration 

Oh wait you just mean 7 more people who will join an ethic enclave whilst taking hand over fist from the state

Glum-Mortgage-5860

He claimed to be 15 when he came.

I sympathise with asylum seekers and I recognise family ties don't mean you deserve to be punished but the second that was identified he should have been deported.

The easiest win for our government would be to stop supporting people who lie.

Skysflies

And people wonder why the UK is seen as a soft touch by people traffickers and economic migrants

Plus I thought the govt had suspended family reunion, clearly not if judges can simply overrule

Putaineska

Just pass a law that gives the Home Secretary absolute authority to veto any in migration on security grounds. No appeals, no oversight, no justifications. 

Drummk

Ridiculous
Someone needs to do something about these crazy judges

MediocreWitness726

I wonder why people are voting reform? They must just be racist thickos who believe lies

NoContract1090

And this is why Reform is probably going to win :/

Golden37

If the Taliban were smart and really wanted to undermine the west and specifically the UK, they could just fake a load of human rights abuses against some of their zealots/adherents and send them all to the UK and we'd happily take them all

Jammem6969

TrueBrit77

Seems we really do need reform because labour and Tories are a joke. We deserve what happens to this country

-ForgottenSoul

As always, does anyone have a link to the ACTUAL judgement and not just DMs rage bait version of it?

lordtema

I should point out just because he is related to a Talib commander don't mean he is automatically bad too. Like in Iran the Rahbar's bother denounced him and was beaten up for it, before that the Shah had his younger brother disinherited  and he wound up a vagrant. Goering's bother saved Jews from gas chambers etc.

Niall_Fraser_Love

Nervous-Zebra-8611

The absurd asylum system needs to be abolished.

It is being abused on an industrial scale.

Imakemyownnamereddit

The British state is totally dysfunctional; captured by a cadre of sanctimonious activists who’ve decided it’s ok for the public purse to be plundered by crooks, liars and  extremists provided they have the right skin colour.

InanimateAutomaton

I AM NOT  TAX CATTLE! I AM NOT AN ANIMAL! I AM... A HUMAN BEING! I... AM... A... MAN!

Worldly_Table_5092

I mean, I’m a centre right voter and I deplore the UK’s immigration failures. I’ll probably vote Reform at the next GE. 

But this sounds like a fair decision. We invaded Afghanistan and said the Taliban is an extremist group promoting terrorism, and are a danger to women and children. Now a guy fleeing the Taliban with his family need a place where they will be safe from indoctrination and potential murder, rape, etc. The family are asking for asylum from outside the UK. All sounds like a legit asylum claim to me.

mskmagic

A lot of those who come to the UK as young men have an uncle in the Taliban, it’s a common story. They’re being forcibly recruited into the Taliban by the uncle and so their other uncle (sometimes father) organized and paid for their journey to the UK.

There’s a reason it’s a common story and it’s not because everyone’s got that crazy uncle.

LonelyStranger8467

So reading it, yes he was the nephew but was at risk of being 'forced' into the Taliban and had been attacked by his relatives over it. 


Not as clear-cut as made out.

BoringView

Judges actively making it worse for people in this country, in favour of people that shouldn't even come here.

fitzgoldy

So for the mouth foamers

- His Uncle was a Taliban commander. They were trying to pressure his father to enlist him in the Taliban. 

- His father moved his son to Kabul to try and get him away from his Uncle. 

-The person was attacked and stabbed by his cousins and decided to flee Afghanistan in fear for his life.

- In 2018 he was given indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

- Meanwhile his parents and sisters fled to Turkey via Iran. 

- The judge has ruled that he can be reunited with his family. (Mum, Dad and 3 sisters) In the UK. 

Genuinely not that outrageous as it makes out. 

The rage bait inducing headline that seems to associate this person as a risk because his Uncle is in the Taliban AND the headline making it sound like it's just random members of his family, as opposed to his actual fucking parents and siblings.

Fuck the Daily Mail.

domsp79

[deleted]

Every time this happens remember that a judge can only do it because they are following the law of this country or the law is such that it allows them interpretive leeway. The only way to make these judgements stricter is to make it impossible for judges to interpret the law in this way by writing clear and strict rules into law. Parliament is sovereign (in this country) if and only if Parliament will actually pass a law. Like Brexit many rules we complain Europe has imposed on us , we have actually imposed on ourselves in a way other countries do not.

Mkwdr

Sex offender's uncle with multiple dual national children...runs as leader of Reform and still wants your vote, despite all the stuff he's said and done.

TheNoGnome

I foresee a future government that will deport 10-20 million. We will all be safe again

IchderMartin

This Labour government are such a bunch of clowns, pathetic, all we can hope is that they don’t do too much damage before we turf them out for another decade.

Luckily Starmer is so utterly shit at Politics he’s not actually capable of achieving much without getting it signed off by the far left

SlightlyMithed123

This actually seems legitimate and he should be granted asylum and has an actual link to the UK. 

On a side note. It takes centuries to cultivate a well run society. Why have the British been so eager to ruin theirs by being everyone’s dumping ground for migrants

eastrandmullet

Why would a judge rule on their language proficiency? That seems a bizarre waste of time and money.

Automatic-Scale-7572

Don’t worry, this can all be stopped by your mandatory digital ID!!!

ionetic

Our asylum policy is based on the view that all people are equally worthy of protecting. Which probably isn't true

Upbeat-Housing1

If this is true, what in the actual literal fuck are we doing as a country.

RWBYies

Going to need a big house for that family!

+10 🤡 points

I think we can all agree we must respect the Taliban's right to a family life here in the UK. We simply can't violate these precious rights unless it's in extreme circumstances, like arresting British citizens and politicians like George Galloway.

kriptonicx

Not saying he should or shouldn't be granted asylum as I'm not privy to the facts of the case and how the law relates to them as the judge would be.

I'll hazard a guess that there are more details involved than the Daily Mail might be including in their story, but, who needs experts, right?

Gloomy_Guard6618

Awesome I’m sure they will be a great addition to this country and share much of our inherent social standards and beliefs

Monkeyliar95

One question was this nephew Taliban himself? No, he literally ran away to escape his uncle.

&gt;Judge rules that man who fled uncle, who was part of militant group, can bring family to Britain

There needs to be radical press reform in the UK because that headline basically painted him as being a member of the Taliban. Trouble is it's probably too late now as it should have been done at the time of the Leveson inquiry.

MultiMidden

It’s a good thing our economy is doing great right now so we can definitely afford to pay to house and feed random extended family members of people.

Jaded_Strain_3753

So just another anchor refugee. I thought there was a pause on family reunification? And parents and siblings I can maybe understand, but why extended family?

MDK1980

"The judge said this month: “The relationship between S’s mental health and his contact with his family is at the heart of this claim.

“Only by being reunited with them will he be able to recover and live a meaningful existence."

  
We need new judges

BugPsychological4836

My girlfriend who is Australian has just been refused entry for a 2 week holiday. What a joke of a country

rikky44

Is there a bigger joke of a country in Europe than the UK? Please don't cry later when Farage turn this country into Trumpland 2.0

mastablasta1962

So well educated culturally similar Europeans find it impossible to get decent visas and yet Mohammad and his whole family can come and claim benefits forever. Make it make sense.

PbJax

Excellent, we need engineers of this calibre in our country!

MysteriousWalk6094

What is wrong with this country? The judges are braindead.

Exxtraa

No doubt coming to an area like mine so people can call it a non integrated segregated ghetto while us Asian Muslims had no say in the matter of who, what, where, when and have to just accept the govt throwing this at us and then calling us out as above. 

Just to mention I'm perfectly happy with my religion and British Asians roots but people of such poverty will take generations to integrate - not to mention the other half dozen nationalities we can't integrate with us or each other

SwimmingOdd3228

Poor guy is welcome but we can’t accept his family because of his mental health. They need their own claims.

Familiar-Woodpecker5

I bet he is not even gonna pay tens of thousands in visa fees, unlike normal people

BlackOverlordd

There’s a coalition of civil servants, immigration judges and journalists working on a British version of ‘MAGA’. 

Step 1 is cause enough chaos voters turn to Reform to ‘fix’ things.

Starmer needs to wake up.

John_Williams_1977

Just bring em in and pay to support them all for life. At this point who cares anymore?

George_Hayman

Sounds like bribes to push voters towards reform.  Just like what has happened with the BBC.  
Lots of money going around from other nations trying to fix our vote i dare say.

Saint_Sin

Just remember when Labour pretend they're against this, they have a majority and can make laws. 👌

ClockOwn6363

So why couldn’t he go to Turkey to be with the 7 family members?

Eire87

ITT: Is it possible to have a different opinion to your uncle? Reddit has decided no.

simanthropy

Why not give him a blank cheque and a visa stamp himself and he can just recreate his home country by inviting over whomever he likes whenever he wants to.

What's the limit to this madness?

Alarmed_Inflation196

Was this a guy who helped us in the fight against the taliban only to have his personal data leaked as an informant? Because maybe we should be the ones to deal with that tbh

3meow_

To be fair there is a demand for leadership within some of the communities set up within our once proud community.

Weekly_Tonight_2924

Anyone want to actually read the article? The man is fleeing FROM his uncle and FROM the Taliban. Isn't this exactly the sort of refugee we generally accept? Genuine political refugees? I'd be an asylum seeker too in those circumstances.

pepperino132

That's it, devide and conquer. Making Russia great again one pleb, sorry, patriot at a time.

Feisty_Barracuda_949

A man seeks political asylum here from a country we were fighting in and then abandoned. Now that's a story.

Backstabar

I get you want to stay in a place you’ve made your home for 20 years but living in a country ruled by the taliban and having a British passport sounds way too risky for shit like this to happen

hiloai

&gt;A Taliban official said **Peter** and Barbie **Reynolds** were handed over to the UK's Special Envoy to Afghanistan, **Peter Reynolds**, who was pictured with the couple aboard their flight to Qatar.

Good to know BBC editorial standards are as good as ever. Richard Lindsay is the special envoy.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/appointment-of-uk-special-envoy-to-afghanistan#:~:text=Mr%20Richard%20Lindsay%20has%20been,his%20appointment%20during%20June%202025.

Visual_Astronaut1506

The craziest part to me is that they lived there for a couple of decades, I'm sure the same can be said for a lot of people that's only ever heard about wars and terrorism in the country.

dannydrama

This is actually a positive story in and amongst all the insane depressing shite swirling around right now. Can we savour it?

WeakDoughnut8480

Qatar doing a lot of the work here. That should be recognised.

Bottled_Void

They can't wait to get back home so they can start planning next year's holiday to North Korea.

MindHead78

When will we westerners get it into our thick heads that they do not want us in their country. They never did in the past and they will not in the future. For better or worse we should leave them to their own devices.

At the same time as this article, UKPolitics sub post up a thread about how "the threat from the taliban is exaggerated" re. Asylum seekers, lol.

MAXSuicide

I wonder what concessions the UK had to give up to get these out of jail?

Why didn’t they evacuate when they had the chance during the fall of Kabul.

Bibsy1099

Why don't they just release them. I don't get what's going on

I remember hearing this at the time, it’s incredibly sad it happened and great they got released. It’s also highly predictable and maybe ‘victim blaming’ sure, but what do you expect.

The government there is highly unstable and will use westerners like this and think nothing of it. They were just tools and theirnaive innocence is not a defence.

BlackSpinedPlinketto

Just saw the real life lore video about Afghanistan betting on tourism to bring in hard currency, looks like they still won't stop arresting them though.

Baumbauer1

I'm really pleased they've served their time and been allowed to leave. I would've liked for the Afghan government to actually tell us what they did that was so illegal instead of just saying it was against "Islamic principles". 

The fact the charity work got the green light after the takeover suggests something bad happened in the last year or so that led to their arrest. Anyway, all's well that ends well and I'm sure they'll be back in Afghanistan in the near future.

Extension-Night1039

Why are all the top comments people just more or less saying they deserve to be captured? They're running a charity and have been doing so presumably safely for 50 years. Good for them. And if they go back and get in more trouble I'd support them being helped again as well. They sound like good people and they shouldn't be spoken about as if they're doing something wrong imo.

Spikey101

Just read this on BBC: 

"We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens," Barbie told Agence France-Presse at Kabul airport after Qatar-brokered negotiations for their release.

Their son Jonathan echoed those hopes, saying "their desire would be to carry on living there and to do the work they were doing".




Why did anyone bother if they are just going to try to go back? I get they are on a mission but all the work people did to get them out only for them to state this?! Wow. 

Vegas-Vixy

Amazing that the vast majority of posts say that Afghanistan is incredibly dangerous yet we're bringing in large numbers of Afghans to live here.

paranoid-imposter

Users often report submissions from this site for sensationalized articles. Readers have a responsibility to be skeptical, check sources, and comment on any flaws.

You can help improve this thread by linking to media that verifies or questions this article's claims. Your link could help readers better understand this issue.

*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/worldnews) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Why do people keep insisting on going to places that they have a high likelihood of being arrested by the government and used as a political pawn?

Why_No_Doughnuts

Did we have it give up another merchant of death for this one?

gin_bulag_katorse

Why? Why are you people still travelling to problematic, lower-class countries? I don't get it

EkruGold

If the taliban can release a US citizen the DOJ can release the Epstein files.

ReadingOk4734

Now just give us the military base back that Trump gave you or there will be HELL to pay 
/s

ViolettaQueso

Afghanistan needs a wall around it. Just let the Taliban deal with everything and not let anyone out.

Lower_Background3939

For a country that has been under attack for decades by multiple nations, it's normal that there is some resentment toward anyone who came from those countries

BigJoey99

Volkova0093

A US citizen has been released from Taliban custody following diplomatic negotiations, indicating a shift in US-Taliban relations.

US Citizen Released from Taliban Detention

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want