Former prime minister John Howard (Image: SBS News)

Days after the final Australian troops left Afghanistan, the man who first sent them there 20 years ago says the government must grant visas to Afghans who helped the defence force (ADF) during our longest conflict.

Former prime minister John Howard told SBS Australia has a “moral obligation” to provide asylum to the thousands of people who were critical to Australia’s war effort.

It’s a major intervention from a Liberal elder statesman, and one which will put further pressure on the Morrison government to fast-track the evacuation of Afghan translators, local staff and their families as the Taliban advances through the country. And it highlights growing concern, including from within government ranks, that a situation everyone agrees is a humanitarian crisis is getting out of Australia’s control.

Howard speaks for the Liberal Party

Most politicians agree Australia has a duty to protect Afghans who helped the ADF. But with the Australian embassy closed, and troops now gone, there are fears a distant Australian bureaucracy is being outrun by the Taliban advance. So far, around 240 Afghans have come to Australia since the withdrawal was announced in April. Hundreds still remain in Afghanistan, often living in hiding and separated from their families.

Many of those are contractors who worked with Australian troops but might not have had a direct employment relationship sufficient to satisfy local decision-makers. According to Howard, however, such distinctions shouldn’t stop us granting visas.

“I don’t think it’s something that should turn on some narrow legalism,” he said.

“If a group of people gave help to Australians, such that their lives and that of those immediately around them are in danger, we have a moral obligation to help them.”

Howard’s stance is also shared by many in the government, with Coalition MPs now more openly calling for Australia to urgently do what it can to resettle Afghans. Liberal MP Phillip Thompson, who is an Afghanistan veteran, told Crikey he wanted the process to move faster.

“We can always be quicker, we can always do better. I do and have encouraged us to move a little quicker,” he said.

The process means people like Sameer* — who Crikey reported last week helped remove landmines, and who has clear documents showing his relationship with Australia — are left in limbo. In Sameer’s case, the wait has been five years.

“If you’re removing landmines, you come to Australia. If you’re digging IEDs out of the ground, you’re one of us,” Thompson said.

On the other end of the Liberal Party’s broad church, moderate backbencher Fiona Martin wants Afghans granted visas, saying Australia “must get this done.”

“Those Afghans who were brave enough to support our soldiers and fight for a better life for their country deserve our protection,” Martin tweeted.

Where have Payne and ScoMo gone?

So far, much of the work to bring Afghans to Australia has happened out of sight — with departments working largely in secret for security reasons, and pressure being placed on ministers behind closed doors. Now, the government is at least starting to openly talk about the situation more, something Howard’s intervention will likely accelarate.

This morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he agreed with Howard’s comments.

“This has a high level of urgency within the government,” he said. “We’re doing that as fast as and as safely as we can.”

But there’s still the perception among advocates that Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who has considerable responsibility for the program, alongside Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, hasn’t fought hard enough to ensure Afghans are granted visas.

Today, Payne agreed that Australia had a moral obligation, and told the ABC the government wouldn’t leave anyone behind, so long as they’re “properly eligible and checked”.

But she also indicated contractors, who Howard said should be allowed in, weren’t eligible for priority special humanitarian visas, which are reserved for those who worked with military and diplomatic staff. Rather they are eligible to apply under the regular humanitarian and protection visa stream for all Afghans under threat from the Taliban.

That distinction locks out people like D*, who worked on a crucial Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Aid project and has since heard 15 of his colleagues have been murdered by the Taliban.

Grilled about his case, first reported in Crikey last month, Payne pointed to “privacy and security” reasons why she couldn’t comment.

*Names withheld for security reasons