Larisa Brown and Jamal Barak chaired Nick Higham

Award-winning defence correspondent Larisa Brown and Afghan interpreter Jamal Barak discuss the story of the Afghans who gave everything to support the US and the British in the country and were left behind.

Brown’s The Gardener of Lashkar Gah is the story of Shaista Gul, who built a garden oasis inside the British military base in Helmand province, and which helped to soothe the troubled minds of soldiers. Other members of his family also worked for the military, including his son, Jamal Barak, as an interpreter.  Brown, defence editor of The Times and campaigner for the interpreters of Afghanistan, describes how all members of the family suffered in the chaotic withdrawal of the allies.

Brown is joined by Barak, who worked as an interpreter for the British Army for eight years and now lives in the UK. He was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the back while working in Helmand province. He now has difficulty walking and is unable to work but has been refused compensation by the British government. He faced a long battle to get his father and his siblings out of Afghanistan and to safety.

Discussions are chaired by journalist Nick Higham, who was the BBC’s first ever media correspondent and is a former presenter of Meet the Author on the BBC news channel.