The French Foreign Ministry has set up a reception system for Afghans who work for French institutions and would like to leave the country, which is plagued by violence, AFP learned on Friday (May 14th).
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"
Like its allies, France believes that the security risk in Afghanistan must be considered very serious,
" said a ministry official. "
France intends to ensure the safety of Afghan agents under local law who are currently employed by French institutions present in Afghanistan and who could be threatened
", he added. “
It is in this spirit that we have planned a reception system which will be intended for them in France, as well as for their families. It is naturally up to them to choose whether they wish to benefit from it. These measures are intended to be reversible, depending on security developments
”.
Since May 1, when the United States was supposed to have withdrawn its 2,500 troops still present, the country has been plagued by an upsurge in violence as American forces continue to leave the country. The French Embassy "
recommended
" to its compatriots "
to leave the country as soon as possible using existing commercial airlines
".
The ministry did not however confirm the figure of the people concerned evoked Friday by the newspaper
Le Monde
, which reports about a hundred Afghans having worked for France and 500 members of their families. "
We have a duty to those who have helped us on a daily basis,
" said the same source. The asylum application procedures will be registered with the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra).
Washington and NATO have pledged to withdraw all of their troops still in place by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 attacks. But few think that the Afghan forces will be able to face the Taliban. without the protection of the US Air Force and Special Forces. In recent weeks, fighting has intensified in some provinces and on Tuesday the Taliban seized a government-controlled district on the outskirts of Kabul.