Criticism of the federal government: family left alone in Kabul

The German government wasted time in the evacuation of a German-Afghan family and thus endangered them, the Green politician Schäfer said Report Mainz and the “mirror”.

A dramatic voice message last Wednesday alerted Jamila Schäfer. The call for help from a 19-year-old German citizen from Kabul can no longer calm her down. The politician is a member of the federal executive committee of Alliance 90 / The Greens and a candidate for the Bundestag. Via a messenger service she receives the voice recording, in which shots can be heard behind the desperate voice of a young woman: “We are right here in front of the north gate. You won’t let anyone through. The Americans tell us that only Americans are allowed through today.” . Can you please ask and see why we are not let through and ask why that is? ”

The 19-year-old German, her brother and her mother actually live in Munich and are visiting relatives in Afghanistan. Both children have a German passport. The mother has a German residence permit. The three place great hopes in the politician and her relationship with the Federal Foreign Office. The contact came about through a mutual acquaintance. For security reasons, we do not give names or show any pictures of the affected family.

Family fled the Taliban 19 years ago

The family’s evacuation drama began on August 13, two days before the Taliban came to power. The daughter contacts a representative from the German Foreign Office and asks for her family to be evacuated. She logs the telephone conversation in an email and informs the Foreign Office that her family fled from persecution by the Taliban over 19 years ago. This letter lies Report Mainz and the “mirror” before. It says:

On the phone, an employee of the Foreign Office said that only my underage brother and I, not our mother, could be flown out. Our mother had to stay in Kabul because she did not have German citizenship. We cannot accept that. Our mother has lived with us in Germany for 20 years. She has a residence permit. My brother and I don’t want to leave our mother behind. We urge you to get us out of here urgently.

Since contact between the 19-year-old and Jamila Schäfer, the politician has called the Foreign Office several times a day and written numerous emails, she said in an interview Report Mainz: “In the end I was able to get all three on the evacuation list. That means that the mother can also be evacuated.” However, this is of no use to the family because they have absolutely no way of getting safely to the airport and, above all, to the plane. “And that simply because so much time was wasted in advance.” The federal government has clearly endangered the family and wasted a lot of time on the evacuation.

Allegations against Foreign Minister Maas

These days, the family repeatedly tries to come to the military part of the airport to catch one of the evacuation flights. So it was last Tuesday, August 17th: Once again, the family was not allowed to enter the airport area – contrary to what Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on the same evening in the ZDF “heute journal”. There Maas said: “Today we gave the people to whom we gave information access to the airport. There are 180 people there, of whom we have just flown out 139 in the second plane”.

That same evening, Jamila Schäfer tweeted that her 19-year-old daughter had asked her to send this tweet to the Foreign Minister: “Mr. Maas, please stop saying that everyone who was notified today will also be evacuated because it’s not me “.

That is why the Green politician criticized Federal Foreign Minister Maas in an interview Report Mainz massive: the family was informed. They were told to come to the gate, wave their passports and then be let in. The family tried four times to gain access to the airport and was always in a completely confusing, very dangerous situation. ”

The Green politician raises serious allegations against Maas: “So either our foreign minister has no idea what is happening there in Kabul and simply didn’t know. Or he deliberately told the untruth. And neither of these things is acceptable for a German foreign minister . “

The eighth attempt succeeds

At the weekend, the turning point finally came: after seven failed attempts to get into the airport building, the family was finally successfully evacuated on Saturday – also thanks to the participation of the Special Forces Command (KSK). According to “Spiegel” information, nine KSK elite soldiers were involved in the action, internally named “Blue Light” by the KSK. It was the first time that the commando was also active outside the airport.

The rescue operation had been planned since early Saturday morning. Since the Munich family had already tried several times to get into the airport through a gate on their own, the KSK decided to undertake a rescue operation. It was agreed by phone that the family should approach the so-called Abbey Gate between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., where they wanted to pick up the KSK under cover of darkness.

According to the 19-year-old high school graduate, the call from the KSK came when the family was already close to one of the gates of the airport. However, her cell phone went out after a few seconds. “That’s why we fought our way alone in front of the gate.” Eventually the family found a German soldier who checked their passports and let them inside the airport. The family arrived back in Germany on Sunday evening.

So far, the Federal Foreign Office has not yet issued an opinion on the questionnaire from Report Mainz and the “mirror”. submitted.

With editorial assistance from Annkathrin Weis.