Thursday, December 23, 2021
For women “every day counts”
Baerbock wants to make it easier for Afghans to leave the country
Since the Taliban came to power, tens of thousands of people in need of protection with admission from Germany have been waiting in Afghanistan. With a new “action plan”, Foreign Minister Baerbock now wants to provide more opportunities to leave the country, especially for women and girls.
In view of reports of serious human rights violations by the Taliban, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens has announced that she will step up efforts to encourage the emigration of particularly vulnerable people from Afghanistan. About 15,000 people who have been accepted by Germany are still in Afghanistan, said Baerbock. Enabling the targeted departure of these people is a top priority for the federal government.
Especially for women and girls in Afghanistan, “every day counts these days,” said Baerbock. The Foreign Minister presented an “Action Plan” for Afghanistan, which among other things provides for closer networking with civil society actors in Afghanistan in order to accelerate the departure of people in need of protection. According to Baerbock, family reunification should also be simplified.
Increased talks with neighboring countries
In addition, Baerbock announced a “new attempt” in talks with Afghanistan’s neighbors in order to create further exit routes. So far, the federal government has only been able to fly people in need of protection through Qatar and Pakistan as part of its evacuation program.
Since the Taliban came to power in August, more than 10,000 people have emigrated with the help of the German government, 5300 of them as part of the military evacuation. According to the Foreign Minister, there are still 135 German citizens in Afghanistan. They have not yet left the country “also due to individual circumstances”.