G7 leaders to meet next Tuesday for the crisis in Afghanistan

The G7 leaders will analyze the situation in Afghanistan during a virtual meeting on Tuesday, announced this Sunday the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, whose country currently holds the presidency of the bloc, which brings together Germany, Canada, the States -United, France, Italy, Japan and United Kingdom.

“On Tuesday, I will summon the leaders of the G7 to urgently discuss the situation in Afghanistan,” said the conservative prime minister. “It is vital that the international community work together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and help the Afghan people protect the progress of the past 20 years.», Added the British leader on Twitter.

Britain currently holds the presidency of the grouping of rich nations, and Johnson has been pushing for a meeting for a week. Western allies increasingly criticized for handling the crisis in Afghanistan, amid chaotic scenes in which thousands of Afghans and foreigners try to flee Kabul after the hard-line Islamist group returns to power.

At least seven people died in the last hours near the airport of the Afghan capital against a backdrop of attempts by the population to leave the country after the Taliban conquest, as confirmed this Sunday by the British Ministry of Defense, a week after the capture of Kabul by Taliban.

Afghan officials familiar with the talks in the capital say the Taliban have said They will not make any announcements regarding their government until the August 31 deadline for troop withdrawal. But the UK and France have offered the US to extend the evacuations beyond the announced date.

The Biden administration was exploring the possibility of asking U.S. commercial airlines to provide planes and crews to help transport Afghan refugees once they are evacuated from their country by military planes. As part of the Voluntary Civilian Reserve Air Fleet program, civilian airlines are increasing the capacity of military aircraft during a national defense crisis.

So far, 13 countries have agreed to take in Afghans at risk, at least temporarilysaid US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Twelve others agreed to serve as transit points for evacuees, including Americans and others.

But the growing question for many other Afghans is: which country will they finally call home? EU leaders, who fear a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis, are already signaling that fleeing Afghans who did not help Western forces during the war should stay in neighboring countries.

Staying in Afghanistan means adjusting to life under the Taliban, who say they are seeking an “inclusive and Islamic” government, offering full amnesty to those who have worked for the United States and the Western-backed government and who are became more moderate since the last time they were in power, between 1996 and 2001. They also declared – without giving further details – that they would respect the rights of women within the norms of Islamic law. However, Many Afghans fear a return to the harsh Taliban rule in the late 1990s, when the group banned women from going to school or working outside the home, banned television and music, cut off the hands of suspected thieves and carried out public executions.

(With information from AFP and AP)

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