Another 189 people are allowed to come to the Netherlands from Afghanistan. The Cabinet wants to make a last evacuation attempt before 1 November to get people to the Netherlands.
Afghans are allowed to go to the Netherlands because, for example, they worked in relief or defense organizations. Their previous work puts them at risk now that the Taliban has taken control of the country.
Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs) wrote in a letter to the House of Representatives that it is no longer possible to evacuate people through Pakistan. Previously, that country allowed Afghans without a passport to go to the Netherlands. Many Afghans do not have passports and it is now more difficult to obtain one because of Taliban rule.
Why Pakistan no longer allows this is not mentioned in Hoekstra’s letter. Afghans who have a passport can still travel from Pakistan. A spokesman said 40 out of 189 have a passport.
Afghans welcome
Hoekstra writes that the 189 people still in Afghanistan had the opportunity to leave early. But some were unable to enter Pakistan, for example because they had no money or because they were refused at the border. Others were able to, but did not accept the offer.
Anyone who disagrees with the latest eviction attempt will remain welcome in the Netherlands. They have to get there on their own.
Before the summer, the government announced that it wanted to move all eligible Afghans to the Netherlands in September. However, Hoekstra had a hard time at that time, because the Taliban sometimes make it difficult on the border with Pakistan. To date, 2551 people have been transferred from Afghanistan.
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