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The deployment of soldiers from the Army Ranger Wing along with two Irish diplomats to Kabul is a welcome signal of the Government's determination to ensure the safe passage to Ireland of 36 Irish citizens and dependants who remain in Afghanistan. The rangers' role will be limited to military-to-military liaison at Kabul airport, where a chaotic situation has developed since the Taliban takeover of the capital last week, but having an Irish presence on the ground should improve the chances of getting those citizens and their families onto outbound flights.
There is relatively little time available, as the US, which currently controls the airport, has set a deadline of August 31st for the withdrawal of its military. At that point, an already unstable situation will become even more dangerous.
The dire security situation means the success of the mission is far from certain. Some of the 36 individuals, a group that comprises 24 Irish passport-holders and 12 dependents, are reportedly in hiding, fearing for their lives. To get to the airport, those families will likely have to risk passing through Taliban checkpoints that have been established across the city.
Another way in which the Government still has the ability to shape events in a positive way is by making it easier for the extended-family members of Afghan citizens living in Ireland to come here.
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At present refugees here can apply only to have spouses and children join them but not parents and other family members. Some 150 family members are expected to receive permission to enter the State due to their family ties to around 200 Afghans who have already been given visas or visa waivers. But the circumscribed criteria leave many Afghans who have the right to leave with an awful decision to make.
It is within the Government’s powers to amend the criteria for family reunification and quickly introduce a more generous scheme. It has previously been done in specific cases, where humanitarian reunification programmes were opened outside of the legislation. The moral case for doing so now is clear.