Since NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan almost a year ago, Germany has promised to take in a total of 23,614 former Afghan local staff and family members. So far, 17,556 have actually entered the country, as the “Welt am Sonntag” reports, citing the responsible Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
From the local forces themselves – such as civilian helpers for the Bundeswehr or interpreters – 5141 received a confirmation of admission, 3756 of them are already in Germany. The much larger number is made up of family members.
In an international comparison, the Federal Republic is in a better position than other European countries, writes the newspaper. According to the British embassy, 10,100 Afghans working for the British armed forces, including their families, have traveled to Great Britain. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has so far issued 1,218 visas “with limited territorial validity” for Afghan nationals, 278 have entered the country as part of humanitarian corridors.
lessons for the future
At the beginning of July, the Bundestag Committee of Inquiry into Afghanistan began work. It is intended to shed light on the events of summer 2021. It is also about the fate of those local forces who are still waiting for an opportunity to emigrate to Germany. The Bundestag also set up a commission of inquiry to question the usefulness of the almost 20-year-long mission in the Hindu Kush with scientific support and to derive lessons for the future from it.
The local staff and relatives were initially accommodated in initial reception facilities such as here in Brandenburg (archive image)
The Bundeswehr left Afghanistan in June 2021 faster than originally planned. In doing so, she followed the time specifications of the USA. In August, the radical Islamist Taliban seized power in Kabul. They encountered little resistance from the Afghan armed forces, in whose training the Bundeswehr had also contributed. Germany then took part in an international military evacuation operation. Dramatic scenes took place at the airport in the Afghan capital in the second half of August when many people wanted to leave the country.
Many local workers who had to stay behind fear for their lives because the Islamists could take revenge on them. Human rights activists criticize the fact that the helpers, who are seen as traitors in radical Afghan circles, were not taken out of the country before the Taliban regained power.
jj/sti (dpa, epd, kna)
Source: DW
