Window of opportunity to get 34 Irish citizens out of Afghanistan is closing, Coveney says

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said 34 citizens are still waiting to get out of Afghanistan as he warned the window of opportunity is closing.

Mr Coveney said that scenes at Kabul airport remain chaotic with a number of people killed in crowds as they desperately tried to find a way out.

“We have 34 Irish citizens remaining to be evacuated. 23 of them are adults and 11 are dependents. There are now eight Irish citizens have got out on various different flights.

“The remaining 34 are a mix of Irish citizens working with NGOs or the UN and quite a number of Afghan Irish citizens who are Irish citizens but originally from Afghanistan and so on. Of course we are fully committed to all 34. We are staying in close contact with them through the embassy in Abu Dhabi. They are getting regular updates in terms of advice,” he told RTÉ’s This Week programme.

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“The situation in the airport yesterday was really chaotic. A number of people were killed in crowds, being crushed. The advice to citizens is to listen to the advice they are getting from our embassy team and not to travel to the airport without the instructions or advice to do that. This is a very complicated and difficult situation for all of the countries that are present in Kabul airport trying to get their citizens out. We are working with many of them to try and get Irish citizens on planes that are leaving but if you look at what happened yesterday, for most of the day no planes were landing or taking off and no people were able to get into the airport on foot.

“We need to be ready to take advantage of an opportunity should it arise to get people out.”

Mr Coveney said he hoped to get the remaining citizens out in the coming days but warned “this is a window that is closing and that is why we want to be sure that we can take advantage of any window of opportunity.”

Refugees

It comes as Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan said Ireland should set an example and take “considerably more” than the 195 Afghan refugees the State has agreed to accept.

“Ireland has been a member of the UN Security Council since last January and next month we take over the presidency of the Security Council. We assume the presidency at a time when there is an extraordinary threat to human rights in Afghanistan.

“Membership of the UN Security Council provides Ireland with an opportunity, and a responsibility, to make a significant international contribution to the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. We can do this in two ways.

“First, by promoting the adoption of a more generous approach to refugees fleeing Afghanistan. We should use our position to encourage the international community to accept without complication those refugees fleeing Afghanistan. We can and should set an immediate example ourselves by agreeing to take considerably more than the 195 Afghan refugees the state has to date agreed to accept.” Mr O’Callaghan said that secondly, Ireland needs to use the presidency to promote equality between the sexes.

“The returning Taliban regime in Afghanistan does not support equality for girls and women. In fact, it is committed to depriving them of a full education and prohibits them from playing a full and equal part in society.

“Previously, Ireland and the international community has condemned and openly challenged apartheid regimes. The Taliban proposal to reimpose such a gender apartheid regime in Afghanistan with girls and women being subject to unacceptable levels of discrimination should be opposed by the international community. Ireland should use its presidency of the UN Security Council to lead international opposition to this blatant and unacceptable discrimination against half the Afghan population.

“The opportunity to hold the Presidency of the Security Council occurs once-in-a-generation. Ireland should take this opportunity to provide leadership for the international community at a time when such leadership is lacking from major global powers. We should lead an international policy that views a gender apartheid regime in Afghanistan as unacceptable as the racial apartheid regime that previously operated in South Africa.”