The federal government has so far taken 8,500 local workers and their families out of Afghanistan, more than twice as many are still stuck. The criticism of the slow evacuations is growing.
More than three months after the fall of Kabul, the situation is desperate for many Afghans. Around 19,000 local employees and their relatives are waiting to leave the country – that’s what the Foreign Office says stern-Inquiry. “Since the middle of August, the federal government has been able to help around 8,500 people to leave Afghanistan.” Further exit options by land and air are being worked on under high pressure.
“In close coordination with the Federal Foreign Office, we are currently intensively looking for ways to enable local Bundeswehr personnel who are authorized to enter Germany to enter Germany,” affirmed a spokesman for the Bundeswehr operations command stern.
On August 15, the Taliban entered the capital Kabul without a fight and have since controlled the entire country. Thousands tried to flee with the last foreign fliers, many stayed behind. Since the Islamists were in charge, foreign aid was frozen and one of the worst droughts in decades hit the country, hundreds of thousands of people have ended up in poverty. With devastating effects: According to UN figures, more than half of Afghans will no longer have enough to eat by November. And winter is just around the corner.
Sharp criticism of the federal government
This is another reason why the efforts of the federal government to recruit former supporters of the Bundeswehr and German non-governmental organizations are not sufficient for the people behind “. The private initiative announced last weekend that it had flown 148 people out of Afghanistan with a donation-financed charter flight – because the federal government was responsible According to Teresa Breuer, one of the initiators of the “Kabul Airlift”, some of the people who were flown out had waited months for their residence permits and hid from the Taliban during the period.
Ulrich Karpenstein, lawyer and member of the board, also found clear words: “As the German Lawyers’ Association, we see a failure of German departments in a way that I have never personally experienced.” The lawyer said at the initiative’s press conference that the lowest level of the rule of law would be undercut if inquiries as to whether clients were on the lists for the evacuation were not answered for weeks.
“Many people in Afghanistan are afraid”
German journalists are also faced with the problem of getting their translators and research assistants out of the country. stern-Reporter reports on his Afghan employee Rasool Sekandari, who made it with his family on a flight from Kabul to the US base Ramstein. Despite an entry permit from the Foreign Office, the family was not allowed to leave the US Air Base – and ultimately they were.
According to his own statements, with the support of the “Kabul Airlift”, he succeeded in bringing around 45 people – his team and their families – from Afghanistan to Germany. “Many people in Afghanistan are afraid,” says Bauer. “But one also has to distinguish between those endangered by the Taliban and those who want to leave the country legally for economic reasons.” In any case, only people from Afghanistan who are on the lists of German authorities would come out. But these should have been put together very quickly. “It was crazy to ask the media and NGOs to put everyone at risk on lists within days.”
He himself coordinated the list of several German publishers and media houses – the psychological pressure was enormous. “Rotating numbers on one of the lists and a person at risk may not get a permit to enter Germany.” And without a guarantee from the Federal Foreign Office, there would be no point in getting people out of Afghanistan – they would then be stranded in a neighboring country.
List position decisive for leaving the country
Another problem with the lists, which reported regularly from Afghanistan until 2018: The lists are closed. “A protagonist from my TV report doesn’t appear on any of the lists. You don’t get any more personal contact with people in ministries. I emailed all possible addresses in German ministries about him, but didn’t even get an answer.”
His conclusion: “The federal government could and should have done a lot more.” Although everything underestimated the speed of the Taliban’s advance, the evacuation could have been prepared at the latest when the US announced it would withdraw. “People who have done a lot for Germany are being left in the lurch.”
Passport problems in the Foreign Office
At the request of the stern the Ministry of Foreign Affairs justifies the sluggish evacuations with missing papers. “One of the greatest difficulties is the lack of passports for local staff and particularly vulnerable people. It is currently not possible to leave the country without a passport, either by land or by air.” We are therefore currently negotiating with the neighboring countries of Afghanistan to enable people without passports to leave the country by land.
After the fall of Kabul, the Foreign Office was overwhelmed, admits a press spokesman on the. “Sometimes we had 130,000 calls a day and a similar number of e-mails,” says Burger. The processes are now much better: The German embassies in the neighboring states of Afghanistan only needed two weeks to issue a visa. He advocates that foreign ministries and initiatives such as the “Kabul Airlift” use their well-functioning contacts to work together on the further evacuation.

The Defense Ministry is also working flat out and together with other ministries to enable all “authorized local staff” – currently 600 people who have worked for the Bundeswehr and their 2,400 members – to enter Germany. “Whether our efforts will be successful, however, also depends on many other factors that we cannot influence, or only to a limited extent.”
Teresa Breuer from the “Kabul Airlift” urges more haste with the evacuations: “Many people have been in hiding for months and are slowly desperate because they don’t know how things will go from them – even people with an evacuation agreement who already have should be out of the country long ago. “
Sources: , Inquiries to the Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Defense and the Federal Ministry of the Interior
Source From: Stern

David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.