UN’s Afghan staff fear there is no escape from the Taliban

In a consolatory message to Afghan workers, UN chief Antonio Guterres did not promise a wholesale evacuation

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres offered consolation to more than 3,000 staff in Afghanistan on Tuesday but stopped short of promising a large-scale evacuation of Afghans despite rising fears of reprisals under the country’s new Taliban overlords.

In a video message to the UN's Afghanistan team, Mr Guterres said he was alarmed by reports of “harassment and intimidation” against workers since the Taliban takeover and that he may relocate more of them outside the country.

He spoke against a backdrop of escalating fears of reprisals against foreigners and Afghans linked to the US and international organisations under Taliban rule as well as chaotic evacuation efforts at the main airport in Kabul.

“I share your concern, your anxiety and your pain,” the UN secretary general said in a video post.

“We are doing everything in our power … and will continue to do so to ensure your safety and well-being, and to find external solutions where they are needed.”

Since Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 15, the UN has relocated about 200 of its 300 international staffers — many will continue working from Almaty, Kazakhstan — but insists it will continue delivering aid for needy Afghans.

That leaves some 3,000 Afghans who work for the UN and its agencies, many of whom worry that the Taliban and its hardline allies will come after them simply because of their foreign affiliation — especially the women.

Afghan UN workers have written to foreign governments describing their fears and pleading for help. Others launched an online petition calling for the “evacuation or relocation” of imperilled employees who had “worked day-in, day-out under the UN flag” for years.

Though they are less obvious targets of Taliban revenge than the Afghan commandos and translators who fought alongside US troops during a two-decade military operation, Afghans employed by the UN are also understood to be in danger.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN researchers on opium production, human rights breaches and other “sensitive issues” may be vulnerable to reprisals following the Taliban’s unexpectedly fast takeover of the country.

People flown out of Kabul on a British Royal Air Force plane arrive at the RAF Brize Norton airbase in southern England. AFP

Ziaullah Qazizada embraces his son, Mesbahullah, at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in the US state of Minnesota. The 10-year-old had been stuck in Afghanistan after travelling to visit family in July. AP

A military aircraft waits at Kabul airport on Monday. AP

Families board a US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft at Kabul airport. AP

Troops stationed at Kabul airport during the international evacuation effort. Reuters TV

A crowd waits to enter Kabul airport as thousands try to flee the city following the Taliban takeover. EPA

People arrive at Boryspil International Airport, outside the Ukrainian capital Kiev, after fleeing Afghanistan on board a Kam Air passenger plane. AFP

An Afghan refugee binds his hands with cable during a rally outside the UN refugee agency's office in Jakarta, Indonesia. Demonstrators have called for justice and resettlement. Reuters

A Japanese military transport aircraft departs from Iruma Airbase, north-west of Tokyo, on a mission to get Japanese citizens and Afghan staff at the Japanese embassy out of Kabul. EPA

Afghans wave a flag above a portrait of the late Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud in north-eastern Panjshir province, the only region of Afghanistan that has not yet fallen to the Taliban. AFP

Afghan resistance fighters and anti-Taliban troops stand guard at an outpost in Kotal-e Anjuman, Panjshir province. AFP

People travel on the Kandahar-Kabul road after fleeing their homes following the Taliban's return to power. EPA

An internal UN report seen by Reuters said that Taliban fighters have taken over some UN compounds in Afghanistan, searching and ransacking offices, and in one case demanding the guards provide meals for a commander and his men.

Mr Dujarric spoke of boosting security for Afghan colleagues, but also noted that the UN could not issue visas and appealed for help from UN members, who can issue paperwork needed for international travel.

Fears were heightened at a press conference given by Zabiullah Mujahid in Kabul on Tuesday in which the Taliban spokesman said foreign nationals were allowed to exit Afghanistan, but that Afghans were barred from leaving the country.

“The Afghans leaving, we are not going to allow that, and we are not even happy about it,” said Mr Mujahid.

Afghanistan’s doctors, academics and other specialists “should not go to other countries, to those western countries” and should stay in Afghanistan and use their expertise to better the nation.

The hardline group also sought to assure the thousands of Afghans crowding Kabul airport in the hope of boarding flights to escape reprisals that they had nothing to fear and should go home.

A senior US official said that President Joe Biden had decided to stick with his August 31 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, despite top American allies calling for an extension to fly more people out.

Western troops have been working frantically to pull more foreigners and Afghans out of the country, with Mr Biden facing growing pressure from allies to negotiate more time for the airlift.

Governments that have relocated about 60,000 people these past 10 days are rushing to meet the August 31 deadline agreed to with the Taliban for the withdrawal of foreign forces.

The hurried evacuation operation kicked off after the Taliban swept into Kabul on August 15 and the US-backed government collapsed as the US and its Nato allies withdrew after a 20-year presence.

The hardliners were ousted from power by US-led forces in the weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US by Al Qaeda militants whose leaders had found safe haven in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

Passengers flown from Afghanistan land safely at RAF Brize Norton in southern England. AFP

People believed to have recently arrived from Afghanistan stand in the courtyard of a hotel near Manchester Airport, England. The British government recently announced that it planned to transport thousands of Afghans to the UK as part of its Afghan Relocation and Assistance Program. Getty Images

Britain is urging the US to extend the deadline of August 31 for Afghanistan evacuations. AFP

RAF personnel pack necessities for Afghan nationals arriving at RAF Brize Norton, in England. AP Photo

A member of the UK Armed Forces fist-bumping an evacuee during their deployment to support the evacuation of British nationals and entitled personnel at Kabul airport. AFP

Afghan refugees arriving in a military plane at Roissy airport, north of Paris. AP Photo

Spanish Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, welcomes some of the 292 Afghan refugees who landed at the Torrejon de Ardoz military base in Madrid, Spain. EPA

US Army soldiers work together to set up cots at Camp Kasserine for the arrival of citizens from Afghanistan who will lodge at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany. Reuters

People are ferried by bus after disembarking an Air Belgium evacuation flight arriving from Afghanistan at Melsbroek Military Airport, Belgium. EPA

Citizens arrive in Belgium after being flown to safety from Afghanistan. EPA

Back on terra firma as people leave a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily. AFP

A passenger looks through the window of a plane carrying people fleeing Afghanistan, at Boryspil International Airport outside Kiev. AFP

Afghan people pass a Spanish soldier after arriving on a plane at the Torrejon military base as part of the evacuation process in Madrid. AP Photo

Spanish military staff inspect luggage of some of the 260 Afghan citizens who were flown by Spanish authorities to the Torrejon military base. EPA

An Afghan woman gave birth to a baby girl on board a US aircraft moments after the plane landed at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Photo: US Air Force

US Air Force personnel play football with Afghan citizens who arrived at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. EPA