Cabinet looks for evacuation alternatives in Afghanistan

The Cabinet has been looking at other options to bring people on the evacuation list out of Afghanistan, AD reported. “The situation is really precarious. We are looking at other ways to bring people out of there”, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigrid Kaag said.

The government wanted to work together with certain security companies to bring the evacuees out safely. “We are looking into that”, Minister of Defense Ank Bijleveld said. “It is only a question of how reliable these companies are.”

Around 230 people looking to flee to the Netherlands have been left behind in Afghanistan. This includes interpreters, as well as, people who worked in other positions for the Dutch government in Afghanistan. The last Dutch transport aircraft landed in the Netherlands on Friday.

“We spoke with neighboring countries about allowing the evacuees in. That is not an easy task”, Kaag said. “The emergency evacuation has stopped but the help has not. Now we don’t have anyone on-site, but we are doing everything we can to get people there."

The Minister of Defense said that is unlikely anyone will be brought out of the capital city before August 31.

The Dutch military evacuated more than 2,500 people in the past week. For 1,600 of them, the Netherlands will be their final destination.