NIOD and NIMH investigate twenty years of Dutch deployment in Afghanistan | news item

News item | 17-06-2022 | 16:15

The Council of Ministers has decided to commission the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (NIOD) to conduct independent, external and scientific research into twenty years of Dutch deployment in Afghanistan in collaboration with the Netherlands Institute of Military History (NIMH). .

The research assignment was presented to the House of Representatives by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence, the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and the Minister of Justice and Security.

The research concerns the nature, scope, costs, time period and stated objectives of the military, diplomatic and civilian deployment in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, as well as the limitations, dilemmas and choices made in the implementation on the ground.

With this decision, the government is responding to the request of the House of Representatives to have an independent, external and overarching study carried out into the Dutch deployment in and cooperation with international partners in Afghanistan. NIOD and NIMH will present the conclusions to the cabinet in a summarizing final work. The study is expected to be completed by mid-2026.

The International Research and Policy Evaluation Directorate, the independent evaluation service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is investigating the Article 100 contribution to the NATO Resolute Support (RSM) mission between 2015 and 2021. The Ruys Committee is investigating the evacuation operation from Kabul that the Netherlands in the second half of August 2021, after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. In December 2021, the cabinet presented the evaluation report of bureau Crisisplan BV to the House of Representatives.

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