"Death sentence", "broken promise": Opposition fierce about abandomnent of Afghan guards

Almost the entire opposition is furious about the government’s decision not to bring a group of Afghan security guards, who guarded Dutch soldiers in the nearly 20 years that the Netherlands had a presence in the country, to the Netherlands. The Cabinet “breaks a promise,” “signs a death sentence,” fails in its “moral duty,” and puts people who sometimes risked their lives to protect Dutch people in “mortal danger,” opposition parties said during a parliamentary debate on Thursday evening, NOS reports.

The nine opposition parties present at the debate - JA21 was not there - all agreed that it was scandalous that the Cabinet is going back on the previous government’s promise to bring this group of Afghan security guards to the Nehterlands. “A debt of honor has been broken,” CDA parliamentarian Derk Boswijk summarized.

On Friday evening, the Cabinet sent a short note to parliament saying that the plan for evacuating the group of Afghan guards and their families had been scrapped. According to the government, it involves not 145, but almost 1,000 guards. Including their families, there would be around 4,500 people. The government called the group too large and sheltering them too expensive. The government also said that it was too difficult to find out where the guards are currently in hiding.

The opposition was furious and, as in previous debates, coalition party NSC bore the brunt of their pressure. Wasn’t NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt a passionate supporter of bringing these security guards to safety in the Netherlands after their many years of service, opposition parties repeatedly asked NSC MP Isa Kahraman. Is the party that claims to stand for good governance breaking government agreements with people “who have been in hiding for three years and now thought they were safe?” GroenLinks-PvdA MP Kati Piri wanted to know.

Kahraman called it a “devilish dilemma” and a “very complicated issue” and spoke of “moral considerations.” The MP called it ridiculous that the Cabinet is citing costs as the reason for not bringing these people to safety. The NSC wants to see whether it is possible to evacuate guards who are in a “dire situation.”

Coalition parties PVV and VVD defended the government’s decision. “We don’t want any more foreigners in the Netherlands,” said PVV parliamentarian Raymond de Roon. According to him, the guards didn’t sacrifice themselves by guarding the Dutch military camp. “They did it for the money,” he said. The VVD said that the Netherlands has already taken in enough Afghans and this group is much larger than expected.

The responsible Ministers - Ruben Brekelmans of Defense, Caspar Veldkamp of Foreign Affairs, and Marjolein Faber of Asylum and Migration - have not explained their decision yet because the debate was suspended to give parliamentarians time to read newly provided documents. The Ministers have already indicated that they plan to stick with their decision.

It is unlikely that the NSC will withdraw its support because that would further damage the already fragile relations within the coalition.

The Netherlands had a military presence in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2021. It withdrew along with other Western countries in August 2021. The country promptly fell to the Taliban.

The Netherlands has already faced criticism for how it treated the Afghan people who worked for the Netherlands while it had a presence there. When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Dutch employees of the Dutch embassy were immediately evacuated, but the Afghan employees were left behind. Then Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag said it was due to a communication breakdown, not intent. The Netherlands also left behind dozens of Afghan interpreters who worked with the Dutch armed forces and were considered traitors by the Taliban.