Status: 07/26/2021 3:54 p.m.
The Bundeswehr has withdrawn from Afghanistan, but many helpers are staying behind. Anyone who was employed by local service providers, for example, has little chance of getting a visa – and is now worried for their life.
Abbas is safe. He and his wife were allowed to enter Germany because the Taliban viewed him as a traitor. He was employed as a sports warden in a Bundeswehr gym and is one of those who got a visa after the troops withdrew from Afghanistan. In the small apartment in Lage (North Rhine-Westphalia) he has all the documents spread out in front of him. Also the letters in which the Bundeswehr thanks him and his brother Elyas for their reliable cooperation and wishes them “all the best for the future”. For security reasons, they do not want to give their last names.
Dealing with helpers after the Bundeswehr withdrew from Afghanistan
Angelika Henkel, NDR, July 26, 2021 4:27 p.m.
But Elyas is still in Afghanistan. And according to their own statements, in great danger. He worked “in the camp” for eleven years, most of the time, however, he was employed by a local service provider, not directly for the Bundeswehr. That didn’t matter in everyday life. Abbas: “We both worked for the same thing. There were 30 meters between the kitchen, where he worked, and the gym. What’s the difference between him and me? I can’t understand that.”
Lower Saxony’s Minister of the Interior Boris Pistorius is the same. He is also the spokesman for the SPD department heads and says: “I don’t like the human image of ingratitude and indifference that is expressed there. We have a role model function, we were dependent on our strength, and now it’s our turn. As simple as that.”
Abbas spreads his documents: he was lucky – but his brother stayed behind.
Image: NDR
Pistorius calls for charter flights
Pistorius calls for charter flights to be used, like the US is doing. “We owe that to the people, but also to our own emergency services who are abroad for us. Who will help us in the future if that is thanks afterwards.” The Federal Ministry of Defense does not want to evaluate the procedure despite repeated written inquiries.
So far, around 190 of the directly employed local staff have arrived in Germany with a visa, with their core families that makes a total of around 1,000 people. Those with direct contracts had received a severance payment, the money should enable the purchase of airline tickets. Around 3,000 people have been given permission to enter Germany. There are no figures about how many were in employment like Elyas, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.
“We are in great danger”
Elyas has not yet received a response to his emails to the IOM. the NDR reached Elyas in Afghanistan. He says: “We are in great danger, including our families. The Taliban are already in control of the checkpoints on the arterial roads and are advancing further and further.” Over the weekend, the British broadcaster BBC reported the death of an interpreter who worked for the US Army. The Taliban had identified him and cut off his head.
But how many people can Germany take in? Soldier Sven Fiedler from the association sponsorship network finds the discussion shameful: “We said: ‘Work with us and then we will build your country and it will be better, more democratic, more beautiful.’ After 20 years we are now saying: ‘It didn’t work out, we’re sorry or we’re not sorry either, you have earned a lot, have fun with the Taliban now, you can certainly clarify that among yourself.’ Personally, I think that’s morally just a complete failure. ”
With the help of a social worker, Abbas was able to organize the most important administrative procedures for himself and his wife. The first steps have been taken, he tries to look ahead. But the fear for Elyas and the other siblings is paralyzing.