Spain Has Evacuated 3,900 Afghan Collaborators Since August 2021
Yesterday only, on August 10, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, José Manuel Albares, and the Secretary of State for Migration, Isabel Casto, welcomed 294 collaborators at the Torrejón Air Base.
According to the authorities, all the collaborators that arrived in Spain yesterday recently left Afghanistan due to the Taliban regime, AtoZSerwisPlus` reports.
“Those who arrived tonight have done so on a flight chartered by the Spanish Government and which had departed hours before from the Islamabad airport (Pakistan),” the Spanish government explained.
The Spanish government has carried out three operations, Antígona I, II, and III, since the first evacuation flight organised on August 15, 2021.
According to the government, there are a total of 942 people who have obtained international protection. Of the total number of those who have obtained international protection and now reside in Spain, 314 of them are women, 277 are men, and 345 are children.
“Among the total of almost 3,900 people evacuated by the Spanish Government are, in addition to former direct collaborators of our presence in Afghanistan, civilian collaborators from EU and NATO countries and diplomatic personnel, whose lives were at risk after the reinstatement of the regime Taliban in Afghanistan,” the statement of the Spanish government reads.
Of the people who arrived in the first and second operation, 1,900 have already entered the system. Another 63 who arrived on July 21 also did so.
The authorities explain that at the Torrejón de Ardoz airport facilities, a provisional transit device has been deployed to accompany families upon their arrival.
The Afghan collaborators who arrived in Spain have also been documented by the police as soon as they landed.
“They [Afghan collaborators] have been documented by the Police, basic sociodemographic information has been collected, they have spoken with UNHCR and OAR to receive information on the rights granted by the international protection, and some have been subjected to random health checks,” the government added.
Additionally, it has been pointed out that all those who express the need to enter the reception system will be referred to housing resources.
Spain is also helping to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan with €33.8 million in aid. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for the Development and the Autonomous Communities also plan to allocate four million more for next year.
