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Afghan refugees on the border in Chaman with Pakistan, which is already controlled by the Taliban in August 2021
Photo: AKHTER GULFAM / EPA
Every day the Taliban are retaking part of Afghanistan. The provincial capital and provincial capital fell into their hands, and most recently they brought the city of Ghazni, 150 kilometers from the capital Kabul, under their military control. In the south of the country, the radical Islamist forces are on the verge of taking the city of Lashkarga. The US secret service CIA even expects the fall of the Afghan capital in the next 30 to 90 days.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans are already on the run inside the country - a development that was foreseeable with the withdrawal of the international NATO troops led by the USA. In view of the worsening crisis in the Hindu Kush, the FDP parliamentary group has now presented a ten-point paper. Central demand: a special summit of the heads of state and government of the European Union. The federal government should advocate for this, said the FDP foreign politician and parliamentary group vice-president Alexander Graf Lambsdorff to SPIEGEL.
"A drama is taking place in Afghanistan that, despite the NATO withdrawal, we cannot just stand by and watch," said Lambsdorff.
From his point of view, concrete measures should be discussed and decided at an EU summit, including brokering a ceasefire, preparing personal sanctions for supporters of the Taliban and more money for the UN refugee agency to care for Afghan refugees in neighboring countries.
Support for refugees
"We also have to talk to Turkey in order to provide for incoming Afghan refugees on the spot based on the example of the EU-Turkey deal," said the FDP politician, referring to the billions in financial aid that the EU is already providing for war refugees from Syria in Turkey has been doing for years.
In its paper, which is available to SPIEGEL, the FDP also calls for further measures from the federal government.
So she should
to use development aid within the EU to ensure that no German or European funds flow indirectly through regional projects to the Taliban or directly into regions under Taliban rule.
The EU is to start talks with neighboring Afghan countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in order to enable safe escape corridors for Afghan refugees.
Tajikistan has already agreed to accept up to 100,000 Afghan refugees.
"Now it is also the responsibility of the European Union to support these countries logistically, materially and financially in accepting and caring for refugees," said the FDP.
The way they dealt with the Afghan local staff who helped the Bundeswehr with their deployment is also criticized.
"All Afghan local staff who have cooperated with the German emergency services in recent years and whose lives are acutely threatened by the advance of the Taliban" should be able to leave for Germany as soon as possible after the visa was issued.
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The hesitant departure of Afghan local workers and their family members due to bureaucratic hurdles, a lack of visa sections and a lack of logistical support when leaving the country is irresponsible," the FDP criticizes the federal government.
Visa program for women at risk
The FDP wants to expand the group of Afghans who are allowed to come to Germany. "Local staff who have provided services for the German security forces in Afghanistan through third-party companies, as well as local staff who have set up or supervised religious institutions as part of their work, are in acute danger of death," says the paper. After a visa has been issued, they and their family members must "be able to leave the country as quickly as possible through charter flights or flight tickets."
In its paper, the FDP also addresses the situation of women and girls who, under the protection of international troops, have been given increased opportunities for education in schools and universities in recent years. Many Afghan women and girls took advantage of these opportunities and are now well educated and employed. "The advance of the Taliban threatens the individual rights of all Afghan women and girls, but it particularly endangers Afghan women who are active in areas such as education, politics or the media," the Liberals said.
Germany and the international community have a special responsibility to protect. The FDP therefore demands the "rapid establishment of a special visa program for Afghan women who are particularly threatened by persecution and violence due to the expansion of the Taliban's sphere of rule." In the USA, the FDP refers to media reports, a corresponding program is already being examined.