Shortly before the end of the international evacuations from Kabul, four EU states and three of Afghanistan’s neighbors – Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan – discussed cooperation and support in the current crisis situation on Monday. Austria is going to the virtual conference with specific offers regarding border protection and humanitarian aid, said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (both VP).
Schallenberg: “You clearly need our help”
The aim of the deliberations is to get a better picture of the situation in the neighboring countries, to hear their assessment of security and migration and to determine the humanitarian needs, because the people “clearly need our help”, Schallenberg told journalists before the conference . In any case, it is important to act quickly because the crisis in Afghanistan has the potential to “drag the entire region into its vortex”.
Nehammer assured us that the conference would be “very clear with offers on the issue of border security” and that we would not “just produce words.” It is about content-related advice and transfer of know-how in order to guarantee the stability of the region.
Schallenberg referred to the 18 million euros in emergency aid that had already been announced last week, there is also a specific offer in terms of “local help”. Three million of them come from the Foreign Disaster Fund (AKF), 15 million are “fresh money”. This is intended to support women and girls in the region in particular. When asked which organizations – besides the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UN Women – should be worked with, Schallenberg replied that this depends on the needs of the countries. It is essential, however, that the partners continue to be present on site and that there is also trust in the population for the organization.
“Austria should take an example from Germany”
The development policy umbrella organization AG Global Responsibility described the emergency aid as an “important first step” in a statement for the APA, but at the same time called for “consistent and long-term” aid. One-off measures would be of little help. If the Austrian federal government is serious about its “much-quoted ‘local help'”, it should take Germany as an example, appealed to Managing Director Annelies Vilim. “Our neighboring country has already promised to provide a further 500 million euros for long-term support measures in addition to its 100 million euros for emergency aid.”
The online conference initiated by Austria is attended by ministers from the three Central Asian countries on the one hand, and representatives from three European countries on the other – the Greek and Danish migration ministers Notis Mitarakis and Mattias Tesfaye, as well as the German State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior, Helmut Teichmann. An invitation had also been sent to the office of the EU interior commissioner responsible, Ylva Johansson, which, however, was rejected due to time constraints, as a spokeswoman from the APA’s interior ministry said. Nehammer again sharply criticized the Commissioner, who, in his opinion, has the wrong focus in the current discussion. Johansson prefers to criticize Greece and its border guards instead of “helping on the ground,” said the interior minister.
Nehammer: deportation centers “currently secondary”
When asked about possible deportation centers in the neighboring countries of Afghanistan, recently brought back into play by the VP, Nehammer said that this topic is currently secondary. The primary concern is “on-site help” and “confidence-building measures”. “We want to show that we are ready for serious cooperation.” Deportations are still important, but trust is needed first.
The United Nations is preparing to flee more than half a million people from Afghanistan. The neighboring countries have already taken in 5.2 million Afghans. According to UNHCR, 90 percent are in Iran and Pakistan, others in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
SP wants protection zones in neighboring states
Because of the situation in Afghanistan, the SP convened the Foreign Policy Council on Monday afternoon. Among other things, it calls for further evacuations and help for so-called local staff as well as protection zones for refugees in neighboring countries. The UNHCR and the Red Cross also needed more support, said SP vice club boss Jrg Leichtfried in the 1-Morgenjournal. “My fear is that the on-site help that the federal government claims to provide will again be something like the tents that were sent to Greece (for refugee camps, note) and that nobody set up,” said Leichtfried about the previous one Help brought to Athens by Nehammer for around a year after the devastating fire in Camp Moria on the island of Lesbos.
The aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) criticized the fact that “billions of euros” have been “pumped” into aid for Afghanistan for years, but how much of it actually reaches the people is questionable. “We have been warning for years that the medical care is still disastrous despite all the promised help,” the organization said in a broadcast. Even 20 years after the start of international engagement in Afghanistan, many people still have no access to health care.
