News item | 07-07-2022 | 20:28
Between August 26, 2021 and July 1, 1,801 people were transferred from Afghanistan to the Netherlands. 942 people are still waiting to be transferred. Of these, 766 are still in Afghanistan. That is what Minister Hoekstra writes, also on behalf of his colleagues in a letter with the state of affairs to the House of Representatives. In addition, the House will be informed this week about the long-term vision for the Dutch deployment in Afghanistan, the reception and guidance offered to local former embassy employees in Kabul and the progress of the implementation of the Improvement Plan in response to the Crisis Plan report. BV.
State of the shipment
The Cabinet aims to transfer all persons still in Afghanistan who are eligible for transfer to the Netherlands by the beginning of September at the latest. However, it remains a laborious process where we are dependent on the de facto Afghan authorities and on other countries. In April, Qatar was prepared to assist with the handing over of some fifty Dutch passports in Afghanistan. And on June 10, the Pakistani authorities received a positive message that they are once again offering the possibility to transfer groups of Afghans without valid travel documents through Pakistan to the Netherlands in an organized manner. Both were the result of months of diplomatic efforts by, among others, Dutch embassy staff.
Future deployment
Afghanistan is in a serious economic, financial and humanitarian crisis. International, and therefore also Dutch, influence in Afghanistan has declined sharply since the takeover. The Netherlands does not recognize the Taliban as a representation of the Afghan population and does not enter into official diplomatic ties with the current regime. Within this context, however, stability in Afghanistan remains in the Dutch interest, among other things to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a base for international terrorism again, and to combat irregular migration. That is why the Netherlands is committed to stability in Afghanistan in an international context and in multilateral forums. The focus here is on humanitarian aid and the depletion of basic needs, guaranteeing human rights, especially women’s and girls’ rights, and countering terrorism; Ministers Hoekstra and Schreinemacher write this in a letter about the long-term vision for the Dutch deployment in Afghanistan.
Reception and guidance of local former employees
The minister also informs the House about the reception and guidance that has been offered to local former employees of the embassy in Kabul. At the moment, six former employees have found a job, two of which are at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Four more will soon sign an employment contract. This is the interim status of the project carried out by SPARK, to guide local employees to work on the Dutch labor market. In addition, in the period from 26 August to 1 May, a project was carried out in which psychosocial care was provided to local employees and their relatives. The aim of this was to guide them in their well-being and to help them on their way to their new life in the Netherlands.
crisis organization
Since the evacuation from Afghanistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up a Departmental Crisis Center (DCC) with a permanent staff of up to 8 FTEs. In addition, situational insight has been strengthened, so that people in The Hague are better informed about what is happening on the ground in a (pre) crisis situation. These steps have been taken as part of the improvement plan in response to the report by Crisisplan BV, about which the cabinet has informed the House of Representatives by letter. In addition to permanent employees and a crisis coordinator, the DCC has a flexible layer of people who have extensive experience from previous crisis situations. We are also structurally working on crisis preparedness by providing education and training, evaluation, monitoring and information provision at the ministry.