Another 19 Afghanistan evacuees heading for NL

Another Dutch evacuation flight departed from the Afghan capital Kabul. Insiders say that 19 people on board reportedly have the Netherlands as their final destination, but this has not yet been confirmed.

The plane already landed, but a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense could not say where due to security reasons. The Ministry reported on Twitter that about 50 passengers were on board the flight.

Earlier Thursday, the same plane landed with 69 Germans and 9 Dutch on board. The final destination of that flight was also not disclosed. 

The Ministry of Defense currently has an air bridge for evacuations flights from Kabul. According to the schedule, there will be a flight back and forth to a safe airport three times a day. The Ministry of Defense has two C-130 transport aircraft available for this. One of them is currently defective.

Not only Dutch people are being evacuated, but also Afghans who helped the Dutch mission in the country and are now in danger. These are, for example, cooks, guards, or drivers. There was already a special arrangement for interpreters for easier asylum in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is also evacuating citizens of other countries, like Germany. From the stopover they are taken to their destination country by other flights.

NATO also has an air bridge from Kabul. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense said that people who can go to the Netherlands from Kabul can also make use of this.