According to the UN secretary general, the Taliban's retaliatory actions against UN personnel have already started.
As the situation in Kabul deteriorates, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has confirmed that the Taliban crackdown on UN officials has started, and a group of UN officials have asked Guterres to order their evacuation.
About 720 foreign UN personnel have been offered assistance in evacuating Afghanistan. Deborah Lyons, head of the Canadian United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, is currently based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. But the 3,000 Afghans who work for the United Nations, most of whom live in Kabul, have received little help.
Some UN agencies have been encouraged to continue coming to work every day, while others have been encouraged to "hibernate" because the UN cannot guarantee their safety.
The official letters seen by POLITICO that have been sent to some local United Nations staff confirm their employment status but do not contain any asylum applications or other visa assistance to leave Afghanistan.
For a group of former employees, local employees are sufficient. In a letter to Guterres received by POLITICO, staff from UN-Habitat and the United Nations Environment Program, which together employ some 200 Afghan agents, pleaded with him to implement a security plan for the staff. Afghan, including an evacuation option, before the Taliban deadline - August. 31.
According to the UN Security Policy Manual, Guterres is the only official who can order the evacuation of local workers, and only "in the most extreme cases when their safety is directly threatened because of their work in the common use of the UN. system. "
The authors of the letter say the criteria have been met and it's time to evacuate.
Since the Taliban took control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, the issue of distributing humanitarian aid has become increasingly problematic.
According to a Taliban spokesperson, the terror group has now banned Afghans from entering Kabul airport, increasing the risk for anyone who has worked or supported allied countries since 2001.
While several governments and the European Union have pledged to make aid funding conditional on respect for human rights, UN agencies have insisted that they will continue to provide aid, citing the risk that a million children will face severe malnutrition if they leave. ...
These decisions were made in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, which said in a joint statement that their "capacity to meet these needs is rapidly diminishing". Basic medical supplies will run out in a few days, as separately reported by the WHO.
Responsibility for relief fell to local staff as most of their international staff had left the country. Under the motto #StayAndDeliver, UNICEF encourages its staff to continue to report on their work.
As a result of their activities, female United Nations and NGO staff, especially in leadership positions, are particularly vulnerable to retaliation from the Taliban.
Guterres expressed his respect for local Afghan staff who continue to carry out their work at the UN despite fears of a Taliban attack in a video message to all UN staff on Tuesday. power "to ensure the safety of personnel.
UN officials seeking help with the evacuation denied this claim. "The situation in Afghanistan is very dangerous and threatens to worsen," they wrote, saying the United Nations decision to proceed without additional security standards "is linked to the safety and security of Afghan citizens."
They said local workers "should not be expected to put their lives and safety at risk" just for the sake of performing their duties at the UN or because of services previously provided by the UN.
Signatories include citizens of the United States, India, Japan, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Norway and New Zealand. "We have tried to help our fellow trainers get on the list of donor countries for visas and evacuations, but we have had limited success without the formal support and efforts of the UN systems," they write. .
As local United Nations workers have worked on initiatives sponsored by these governments, the letter suggests that the governments of the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland and the European Union have a unique commitment to aid.
Internal United Nations communications uncovered by POLITICO describe a bureaucracy that does not appear to be linked to the rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground in Kabul.
Kabul staff received brief words of support, as well as reminders to book travel 21 days in advance and upload annual "performance plans" to internal servers.
About 720 foreign UN personnel have been offered assistance in evacuating Afghanistan. Deborah Lyons, head of the Canadian United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, is currently based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. But the 3,000 Afghans who work for the United Nations, most of whom live in Kabul, have received little help.
Some UN agencies have been encouraged to continue coming to work every day, while others have been encouraged to "hibernate" because the UN cannot guarantee their safety.
The official letters seen by POLITICO that have been sent to some local United Nations staff confirm their employment status but do not contain any asylum applications or other visa assistance to leave Afghanistan.
For a group of former employees, local employees are sufficient. In a letter to Guterres received by POLITICO, staff from UN-Habitat and the United Nations Environment Program, which together employ some 200 Afghan agents, pleaded with him to implement a security plan for the staff. Afghan, including an evacuation option, before the Taliban deadline - August. 31.
According to the UN Security Policy Manual, Guterres is the only official who can order the evacuation of local workers, and only "in the most extreme cases when their safety is directly threatened because of their work in the common use of the UN. system. "
The authors of the letter say the criteria have been met and it's time to evacuate.
Since the Taliban took control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, the issue of distributing humanitarian aid has become increasingly problematic.
According to a Taliban spokesperson, the terror group has now banned Afghans from entering Kabul airport, increasing the risk for anyone who has worked or supported allied countries since 2001.
While several governments and the European Union have pledged to make aid funding conditional on respect for human rights, UN agencies have insisted that they will continue to provide aid, citing the risk that a million children will face severe malnutrition if they leave. ...
These decisions were made in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, which said in a joint statement that their "capacity to meet these needs is rapidly diminishing". Basic medical supplies will run out in a few days, as separately reported by the WHO.
Responsibility for relief fell to local staff as most of their international staff had left the country. Under the motto #StayAndDeliver, UNICEF encourages its staff to continue to report on their work.
As a result of their activities, female United Nations and NGO staff, especially in leadership positions, are particularly vulnerable to retaliation from the Taliban.
Guterres expressed his respect for local Afghan staff who continue to carry out their work at the UN despite fears of a Taliban attack in a video message to all UN staff on Tuesday. power "to ensure the safety of personnel.
UN officials seeking help with the evacuation denied this claim. "The situation in Afghanistan is very dangerous and threatens to worsen," they wrote, saying the United Nations decision to proceed without additional security standards "is linked to the safety and security of Afghan citizens."
They said local workers "should not be expected to put their lives and safety at risk" just for the sake of performing their duties at the UN or because of services previously provided by the UN.
Signatories include citizens of the United States, India, Japan, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Norway and New Zealand. "We have tried to help our fellow trainers get on the list of donor countries for visas and evacuations, but we have had limited success without the formal support and efforts of the UN systems," they write. .
As local United Nations workers have worked on initiatives sponsored by these governments, the letter suggests that the governments of the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland and the European Union have a unique commitment to aid.
Internal United Nations communications uncovered by POLITICO describe a bureaucracy that does not appear to be linked to the rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground in Kabul.
Kabul staff received brief words of support, as well as reminders to book travel 21 days in advance and upload annual "performance plans" to internal servers.
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