CDA MP pleas for Afghan evacuees to be picked up from home

CDA MP Derk Boswijk voiced his discontent about the sharp the Netherlands’ evacuation policy in Kabul, NU.nl reported. He demanded that Afghans who are on the list to be brought to the Netherlands be picked up from home. The road to the airport is too dangerous, Boswijk said.

“You can’t just leave people to themselves. They need to be picked up; it’s not possible otherwise. Getting inside the airport is the most difficult and most dangerous part of the evacuation”, Boswijk stated.

All 207 embassy workers have arrived safely at the Kabul airport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted Saturday evening. Nonetheless, there still remain people on the evacuation list who did not manage to make the trip yet.

Boswijk has been in contact with a group of Afghan women who worked for a Dutch relief organization. They were put on an evacuation list but when they arrived at the airport in Kabul were denied entry by an American soldier. Boswijk explained to the soldier on the phone who he is and who the women are but the soldier said the women need to speak with the Dutch military.

Some people have turned away as many as four times, according to Boswijk, despite 65 Dutch soldiers present at the Kabul airport. The position of the Dutch military needs to be indicated clearly, Boswijk suggested, for example, by hanging up the Dutch flag.

Together with former MPs Ingrid de Caluwé and Kathleen Ferrier, as well as, former AIVD employee Guido Blaau, Boswijk set up a group chat where Afghan evacuees are updated on the latest news.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sigrid Kaag, said that all people on the evacuation list have been contacted, but Boswijk said this has not been the case. “In our group, there are people that still have not been called. It is important that you get to hear from somebody out of flesh and blood: ‘We know that you exist. It may take a while but we will get there’.”