Opposition parties and the coalition strongly criticize outgoing State Secretary Broekers-Knol because of an interview in the AD. In it she says that 100,000 Afghans may want to come to the Netherlands and that such an exodus could lead to a “brain drain” in Afghanistan.
D66 MP Belhaj calls the interview “bizarre”. Belhaj was one of the driving forces behind an appeal to the cabinet to receive Afghans if they are at risk because they have worked for the Netherlands. “Have only one word for her statements: horrible.”
Individual senders
After the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a total of about 23,000 emails requesting assistance. It is not yet clear how many individual senders are behind those emails. It is certain that many people have sent more than one email, but also that many requests are about more than one person.
Broekers-Knol makes a calculation in the interview: “If those 23,000 e-mails are all from one person, and they all often want to take their family with them – times five, I always calculate – then that is 100,000 people. My honest answer is no. We can’t handle that.”
deception
According to CDA MP Boswijk, “waving with potentially 100,000 refugees is really nonsense”. Boswijk himself helped from the Netherlands with the evacuations from Kabul. “If you talk to the NGOs, you know that the numbers are many times lower. And I don’t think it is wise to take over the frame of the Taliban, the ‘brain drain’. This interview only creates deception and a lot of noise.”
The Taliban have recently used the brain drain argument to prevent people from leaving. Highly educated Afghans are needed to build the country, says the extremist organization.
Unlikely sad
MP Piri of the PvdA finds the interview “brainless and heartless”. And Member of Parliament Ceder of the ChristenUnie speaks of “very inappropriate and painful statements by State Secretary Broekers-Knol”. Think party chairman Azarkan calls it an “unbelievably sad and mean interview”.
The state secretary “not only makes statements that the Taliban itself also makes, she also sprinkles with figures that are incorrect,” said Volt MP Koekkoek. “She doesn’t do Afghans justice, but she doesn’t do her office either.” Volt wants an explanation from outgoing Prime Minister Rutte.
In the aftermath of the difficult Dutch evacuation operation in Afghanistan, two ministers resigned. In at first only Minister Kaag of Foreign Affairs resigned, but one day later Minister Bijleveld of Defense also followed.
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