‘Free job for foreigners and Afghans with travel papers’ | Abroad

The deal covers 100 countries, including the Netherlands. This concerns passport holders, but also Afghans who have helped the countries involved and who therefore run the risk of retaliation.

“Together with a hundred countries, we will make every effort to allow Dutch and Afghans who have worked for us, or who are at risk, to travel freely to places outside Afghanistan,” said outgoing minister Sigrid Kaag (Foreign Affairs). “We expect the Taliban to honor their guarantees and allow these groups to travel freely.”

letter of intent

It is still unclear how this promised safe conduct will take shape. The American initiative is a declaration of intent for the time being, emphasizes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Netherlands was left behind with a Hercules transport plane in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. There may be evacuation flights from other airports in Afghanistan. Routes are also explored over land.

It does not appear that evacuations will be possible before next Tuesday, August 31. It is the date on which the Americans must leave the Taliban. Then thousands of soldiers and all the equipment must have left.

Partly because of this, the Netherlands had to stop the evacuation of compatriots and Afghans who helped the Netherlands last Thursday morning. Next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes to have a better picture of the number of people in Afghanistan who are still eligible for evacuation. This includes Afghans with a public profile who are at additional risk of retaliation by the Taliban, such as human rights defenders, women’s activists, journalists and activists. At least 30 Afghan interpreters who worked for Dutch military missions were left behind.

Not a cent to make

With the agreement, the Taliban appear to have succumbed to the demands of Western countries and the threat that Afghanistan will become a pariah of the world if it does not come to those demands. Afghanistan is not making a cent at the moment. International isolation would push the country into the abyss and give the Taliban’s domestic enemies such as the warlords of the various tribes a major boost.

Under the agreement, it is now up to the countries themselves to provide the Afghans who have worked with them with the appropriate papers so that they can leave the country.

–