"I was asked to come within the hour": these French and Afghans awaiting their evacuation in Kabul

Mustafa had been in Afghanistan with his wife for over three weeks to see his family in Kabul.

"

We were trapped by the spectacular advance of the Taliban,

" said this thirty-year-old Franco Afghan.

The young man says he is "

flabbergasted

", like all his family there.

"

We thought that there would be resistance, no one would have bet that Kabul would be taken without a fight,

" testifies the man who was preparing to advance his return tickets to France by August 25 by a few days.

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Like many French people there, Mustafa and his wife were called by the French embassy on Sunday afternoon, as the Taliban entered the streets of the Afghan capital, an open city after the flight of President Ashraf Ghani. "

They told us to come and take refuge immediately, as long as the diplomatic quarter was still safe

." Many French people were then able to join the embassy, ​​but also Afghans, collaborators of the French presence or of the international coalition, but also personalities committed against the Taliban, artists, doctors or journalists.

This is the case of Sahar *, a lawyer, invested in the cause of women in the country.

With part of her family, she made the decision two weeks ago to apply for a visa in France to escape the future Taliban regime.

“

We all got together one evening to talk about the situation.

We made the decision to leave,

”she explains.

With his father, a doctor who worked in several NGOs, and his sister, the family "

can

easily be considered as an enemy of the Taliban

", fears Sahar, without giving more details, worried about the situation.

New life in France

“

Cousins ​​who live in France were there, they helped us to contact the embassy and to do the paperwork for the passport application

,” she says.

And then the day of departure came, earlier than expected.

“

Sunday afternoon, when everything changed, someone from the French embassy called me asking me to come within the hour,

” she says.

“

My colleagues were all scared, I quit my job as quickly as possible,

” recounts this 30-year-old Afghan woman.

“Sunday afternoon, when everything changed, someone from the French embassy called me asking me to come within the hour.

[...] I quit my job as quickly as possible ”.

Sahar *

His sister Eshani * also testifies, now ready to leave her country "

at least as long as the Taliban remain in power

".

“

I'm going to start a new life in France, I'm ready to change jobs,

” says the English graduate.

Currently, several hundred people are still waiting in the embassy, ​​like Sahar and his sister.

"

It's going to be the third night, we don't know when we will be leaving but we have been told to be ready

".

With the brutal takeover of the country by the Taliban, many Afghans are tempted to flee the country.

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With the sudden takeover of the country by the Taliban movement, many Afghans are thus tempted to flee the country.

As of Sunday evening, a crowd gathered in front of the doors of the embassy, ​​"

but the Taliban dispersed them

", according to Mustafa.

"

When are we going to leave?"

"

“

At first, everyone was terrified that the Taliban would prevent us from leaving. Now the pressure is off

, ”Mustafa reports. "

When are we going to leave?" Everyone is asking the question,

”he says. “

At first, we had to take a helicopter, but they canceled the operation

”, according to the French Afghan. Tuesday evening, some of the people who had taken refuge in the embassy began to be evacuated by car to the airport.

According to President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the Taliban are "

ready to protect

" access to Kabul airport for evacuated civilians.

Washington is negotiating with the Taliban the "

timetable

" for American evacuations, he also indicated during a press conference at the White House.

For her part, the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly estimated Tuesday in an interview with BFM TV that there

remained

"a

few dozen Afghans whom we consider that they must be able to be repatriated as quickly as possible

".

41 evacuees have already arrived at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport yesterday at the end of the afternoon.

*

The first names have been changed.