Afghanistan: Military translators risk low pay, death

Murtaza "Jimmy" Farukhi was killed while on patrol with the U.S. Marine Corps on Sep. 9, 2008, at the age of 23. He was not a soldier, but a local translator employed by Columbus, Ohio-based Mission Essential Personnel (MEP). Farukhi was one of 24 MEP translators killed and 56 injured since the company's contract with the U.S. military began in September 2007, according to company statistics. MEP was awarded a five-year contract in September 2007 by the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) to provide 1,691 translators in Afghanistan. MEP defeated the incumbent contractor, San Diego, California- based Titan Corporation. The contract is worth up to 414 million dollars. When he was alive Farukhi was paid between 650 dollars and 900 dollars a month, depending on how much time he spent on patrol with the soldiers. In compensation for his death, his family got a one time payment of 10,000 dollars from MEP, and is hoping for a similar amount from their insurance company, Zurich Financial Services. Farukhi's former colleagues say that they are unhappy with the salaries, which have been cut some 20 percent in the last two years, as well as with the death compensation for their colleagues that have been killed.