The Diplomat
Spain yesterday offered to receive Afghans who have worked for the countries of the European Union before they and their families are distributed among the member states of the EU bloc, according to the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell.
At the end of an extraordinary meeting of the EU-27 foreign affairs ministers held by videoconference, Borrell thanked Spain for offering to act as a ‘hub’ to receive the Afghans and then distribute them to the rest of the EU countries that offer them visas.
“We cannot abandon them and we will do everything possible to bring them and offer them refuge in the Member States of the European Union”, said the High Representative, who also thanked Italy for its role in the Afghanistan crisis, since its planes “will evacuate around 400 local Afghan EU personnel and their families” to Rome.
From the Italian capital, the Afghan nationals and their families will travel on commercial flights to Madrid, where they will wait to be sent to countries offering them asylum.
Diplomatic sources indicated yesterday that between 40 and 60 of these people will receive asylum in Spain and the rest will be distributed among the other member countries. In Spain, several autonomous communities, such as Catalonia and the Valencian Community, have contacted the government to express their willingness to take in Afghan refugees.
Borrell pointed out that one of the main conclusions of the ministers’ meeting was to give priority to evacuating the Europeans present in the Asian country and the Afghans who have been working with the EU.
In a communiqué issued after the meeting of EU ministers, it is stated that the EU “will pay special attention” to the situation of those Afghan citizens “whose safety may be at risk because of their commitment to our common values”.
Meanwhile, the two Air Force A400 aircraft are already in Dubai, awaiting permission to fly to Kabul airport, in order to repatriate the embassy staff and Spaniards still in Afghanistan, as well as the Afghans who provided assistance – many of them as interpreters – to Spanish troops and Spanish aid workers.
The government has not specified when it will be able to proceed with the evacuation, which depends on the situation at the airport and on obtaining the relevant permits.
Nor have specific data been provided on the number of people who will be brought to Spain, although it is expected that there will be several hundred, so it may be necessary to make an additional flight.
Both the ambassador, Gabriel Ferrán, and his ‘number two’, Paula Sánchez, are already at Kabul airport, as are the Spaniards and embassy staff, while only some translators have been able to reach the airport and the rest are said to be at home waiting to be able to do so.
Several European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, as well as the United States, have already been able to evacuate their nationals, as well as diplomatic and Afghan personnel.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, acknowledged on social networks that the military operation in Afghanistan had been a failure, despite achieving the objective of “fighting Al Qaeda”: “What was not achieved was the next objective of building a state, and this is a lesson that we must learn for the rest of the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, the deputy spokesman for the PP in the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee, Pablo Hispán, insisted in statements to EsRadio, in criticising Sánchez for “not showing his face” as Joe Biden or Angela Merkel have done, and accused him of lack of foresight and “administrative chaos” in the withdrawal of diplomatic personnel still in Afghanistan.
