Thousands are still waiting
610 local workers are to come to Germany
2/8/2022, 3:15 am
When the Bundeswehr hastily left Afghanistan at the end of August last year, thousands of their local helpers stayed behind. Many have been accepted by the federal government, but cannot be brought to safety. For a good 600 local workers and their families, the fear should soon be over.
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has announced that more local staff will be leaving Afghanistan. “We assume that a total of 1,190 former local Bundeswehr personnel are already in Germany and we expect around 610 more arrivals from Afghanistan,” the SPD politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “And then there are always the families.”
Lambrecht emphasized: “Every individual who has stood up for us and is therefore threatened with death must be a reminder for us to act consistently and quickly.” Germany supports its former helpers when they leave the country.
In the hasty retreat after the radical Islamic Taliban took power in Afghanistan last August, the Bundeswehr left behind thousands of people in need of protection in Afghanistan. According to information from the Federal Foreign Office at the end of January, by the middle of the month the federal government had issued around 20,400 acceptances for former Afghan local workers and their families. There are also around 8,000 commitments for the admission of people who are particularly at risk, such as journalists or women’s rights activists.
However, a significant number of these people have not yet been brought to safety. According to the Federal Foreign Office, more than 9,300 Afghans have entered Germany since mid-May as of the end of January, and “many” other people who have been accepted are in third countries such as Pakistan. Thousands of others are still waiting in Afghanistan to leave the country.
According to a recent United Nations report, the Taliban have killed more than a hundred former government officials and local international troops in Afghanistan since taking power. Despite the announcement of a general amnesty for government and armed forces employees, the UN has received “credible allegations of killings” and “enforced disappearances,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in the report.