G7 meeting on Afghanistan: evacuations, refugees and humanitarian aid | Western Powers Summit on the Afghan Crisis

From Rome

Whether or not to extend the deadline – August 31 – agreed by the United States with the Taliban to withdraw all existing military and collaborators in the country, and the need to involve other powers like China and Russia Among other things, to reason about the future of Afghanistan and its surroundings, were two main points that the G7 leaders (United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan) during the virtual meeting they held on Tuesday and during which a representative of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and another from the HIM HIM (United Nations). But apparently the discussion focused almost exclusively on what to do next, at a time when Crowds of Afghans continue to arrive at Kabul airport in an attempt to escape with European help.

Coordinated response

The main objective is, according to the English Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, whose country currently chairs the G7, “to avoid a humanitarian crisis and help the population defend the gains of the past 20 years”. In short, it is a question of sketching out an action plan to be able to provide a coordinated response to the Afghan crisis in three dimensions: humanitarian, security and political.

As for the date of August 31 when theoretically all foreigners and their collaborators, military and civilian, should finish leaving, and that both Johnson and the French president Emmanuel Macron and EU leaders had suggested extending to help Afghans, US President Jose biden He opposed it. His military advisers suggested, as it turned out, that he stick to the August 31 date to avoid further problems. On that date, in addition to Afghan diplomats and collaborators, Washington must evacuate 5,000 American troops.

One of the major problems was that one of the Taliban spokespersons, Suhail shaheen, was drastic in his statements to the SkyNews television channel “If the United States or Great Britain try to extend the withdrawal period beyond August 31, there will be consequences,” he said. declared. Biden’s decision was also influenced by the meeting held Monday in Kabul by the director of the American CIA – that is, the secret service -, William Burns, with one of the founders of the Taliban, Abdul Ghani Baradar, as published by the newspaper Washington Post (Ver aside). Apparently Ghani Baradar, who heads the Taliban political bureau in Qatar, is Afghanistan’s new strongman.

Italy and Afghanistan

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi also attended the virtual meeting of G7 leaders and called on them all to follow an Italian proposal. Italy will allocate to humanitarian aid to Afghanistan all the resources which were until now intended for the military forces, noted. “I ask you all to join in this effort,” he said.

On the other hand, he stressed that it is necessary to conclude the evacuation operations safely before the end of August. And he also stressed the need to “maintain a contact channel with the country even after August 31, which allows, among other things, that international humanitarian organizations can safely access the country. “

G20

The evolution of the situation in Afghanistan, humanitarian aid, the management of refugees and migrants and the fight against terrorism, were the key points of Draghi’s speech. The Italian Prime Minister called cooperation “fundamental” and the failure to act “in a unitary manner”. “To achieve these goals, I think the G7 must show solidarity and involve other countries. In this sense, the G20 – currently chaired by Italy – can help since very important countries are members of the G20 such as Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and India», He underlined.

Draghi offers a special G20 meeting dedicated to Afghanistan. In particular, referring to the defense of fundamental rights, the defense of women’s rights – very mistreated and diminished by the Taliban in general – and by all those who during these years of American occupation and the NATO countries (North Atlantic Organization) worked in favor of the construction of a democratic Afghanistan .

Draghi had had a series of telephone conversations in recent days with Boris Johnson, and with the rulers of Russia, Vladimir Poutine, from Germany, Angela Merkel, in addition to the presidents of France and the United States.

According to US data, in the past 24 hours, some 12,000 people have managed to leave Kabul, thanks to 15 US military flights and 34 NATO flights. Since August 14, they have been transferred around 48,000 people between the people of the embassies and the Afghan collaborators and their families. Italy evacuated some 2,700 Afghans So far, they have mainly arrived at the Roman airport of Fiumicino where they have received the papers that legalize their residence, although they are distributed in different regions of the country.

EU and Afghanistan

In Italy and in the countries of the European Union (EU) in general, the debate on what to do in the face of the new Afghanistan is still open. The EU, which announced today through the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, which will increase its humanitarian aid to Afghans from 50 to 200 million euros, had asked the G7 countries that the Afghan rescue and humanitarian aid operations could continue beyond August 31. The Taliban have already said that the airport in the coming days will be open only to foreigners, not for Afghans. This would completely limit the exodus of refugees.

British Minister of Defense Ben wallace he had from the start described it as “unlikely” that the evacuations would continue after August 31. Boris Johnson for his part in a tweet warned that at the G7 meeting he would ask his “friends and allies to stand alongside the Afghan people and increase support for refugees and humanitarian aid. We will use all diplomatic and humanitarian power to protect human rights and the progress made in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. “

According to the Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marina Sereni, “In the immediate term, pressure must be exerted on the Taliban to form an inclusive government that respects the rights of women and minorities. A government that does not make Afghanistan an attractive place for international terrorists”. And referring to the escaping Afghans, he noted that “we have a moral obligation to address the issue of welcoming Afghans, taking into account that most of those who escape will travel to the Afghans. neighboring countries with which we will have to collaborate. We must try to elaborate regular and legal solutions and each European country taking charge of a part», He concluded. Italy intends to end flights intended for the evacuation of Italian diplomats and Afghan citizens around August 27. The remaining days, until the 31st, would be for the return of military forces.