- Western countries are eager to evacuate their citizens from Afghanistan.
- This is after the Taliban took over the country.
- The European Union has been working hard to find a solution and trying to persuade its country to provide visas for Afghan workers.
On Monday, after the Taliban quickly took over Afghanistan, Western countries were eager to evacuate their citizens and local staff from Kabul.
After the government collapsed on Sunday, Islamists returned to power as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani admitted that the Taliban had won and fled the country.
Thousands of people poured into the city’s airport to try to escape the organization’s frightening brand of hardline Islamic rule. The United States and 65 other countries issued a joint statement urging the Taliban to allow Afghan and foreign citizens to leave the country.
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The European Union is desperately trying to find solutions to possible retaliation for its Afghan staff and trying to persuade its 27 member states to provide them with visas.
The U.S. military protected the Kabul Airport on Monday, and the U.S., Germany, France and the Netherlands moved their staff to the site to prepare for evacuation.
Other NATO member states, including the United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark and Spain, have also announced that they will withdraw their staff, as does Sweden.
Sweden stated that Afghans in translators or other support roles would be included in the evacuees, while Finland stated that it would help its embassy staff and up to 130 Afghans to leave the country.
Parliamentary sources told AFP on Monday that Germany is planning to deploy soldiers to help its citizens and Afghans in danger to evacuate from the Taliban.
In Paris, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it is deploying reinforcements to the United Arab Emirates to help evacuate through Abu Dhabi.
Defense Minister Florence Parly said: “We plan to have the first rotation between now and the end of this Monday,” adding that dozens of French citizens need to be evacuated.
The French government said on Friday that more than 600 Afghans employed by French organizations have arrived in France with their families.
As the Taliban occupied major regional cities last week, Britain ordered the deployment of 600 soldiers to evacuate its citizens on Thursday.
On Sunday, the Italian Minister of Defense announced the arrival of its first military aircraft and began an “emergency evacuation.”
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Warsaw stated that the government has issued 45 humanitarian visas to Afghans and their families working in Kabul for Poland or the European Union, while Ireland stated that it has granted visa waivers to 45 people and agreed to admit another 150 people.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Covini said on Monday: “We will give priority to those who work with human rights organizations, where there are media, especially women and girls.”
The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Madrid will send two military transport aircraft to Dubai on Monday for the “first phase” of the evacuation of its embassy staff and local staff.
“Our priority now is to repatriate Spanish citizens and Afghan citizens who work with us and face security risks,” said Fernando Grande-Marasca, the Minister of the Interior.
A Pentagon official said on Sunday that hundreds of U.S. Embassy employees had left Afghanistan.
The United States has sent 6,000 soldiers to the airport to ensure the safe evacuation of embassy personnel.
At the same time, Russia stated that it does not intend to withdraw from its embassy in Kabul.
Foreign Ministry official Zamir Kabulov said that Russia is one of the countries whose embassy is guaranteed by the Taliban.
Beijing said on Monday that the Chinese Embassy in Kabul is still operating, even though it began to evacuate its citizens from the country a few months ago.
However, the embassy told Chinese citizens staying in Afghanistan to “closely monitor the security situation” and stay indoors.
