Guards Dutch embassy in Kabul feel betrayed

They sat around a campfire on their last night in early December. In a video they show how they warmed their hands. Now almost all guards at the Dutch embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul have lost their jobs, some after more than ten years.

“Fourteen years,” says one of them, who wants to talk to the NOS in Kabul with a group of ten. They are angry and scared. The company they worked for warned them not to talk to the media. Because they still have two months of salary and a letter of recommendation, they do this anonymously.

‘Another position’

From Parliamentary Questions which were answered on 16 December (.pdf), it becomes clear that they will not be evacuated, as they were working through an external service provider. Therefore, they are in a “different position” than people employed by the embassy. For them, “The Netherlands as an employer has a special responsibility.”

The answers to the parliamentary questions also show that, according to the Dutch government, the guards are not in any danger, unlike guards in foreign armed forces, who are seen as enemies by the Taliban. “Embassy guards stay with civilian objects, official representatives of other states, with which the Taliban is pursuing official contacts.”

The guards themselves see this differently, says the group in Kabul. “We have worked for foreigners. The Taliban do not discriminate in the type of job.”

stabbed in the street

A colleague was stabbed in the street four days earlier by unknown perpetrators and is in hospital. They show pictures of his wounds. The number of violent robberies is increasing in Kabul due to the economic crisis. But according to the security guards it must have been a personal attack.

“It was near his house, and the perpetrators didn’t take anything. Not his wallet, not his phone or watch,” says one of them, who speaks English. “We’re all scared. I’ve already changed addresses four times.”

Personal attacks are regularly reported. It is not always clear to what extent Taliban leaders have something to do with this. They have promised amnesty. But human rights organization Human Rights Watch found evidence that senior local rulers were involved in the death or disappearance of at least 100 former soldiers and police.

‘Evacuation was promised’

The Dutch embassy has been abandoned since the Taliban took power in Kabul on August 15. All belongings were moved to a new location and staff were evacuated in the weeks that followed. The answers to the parliamentary questions state that the embassy has made it clear since the beginning of 2021 that this would not be an option for the guards.

But they themselves say that their evacuation has been promised by their boss, the external service provider. They feel betrayed. “In August it was said: you are needed here to keep guarding the possessions of the Dutch. The first two months I spent day and night on the new embassy grounds. Evacuation would take time, they said. But now we are here, and besides being unemployed.”

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