Today (22 November 2021), a group of around twenty Afghan citizens who worked for NATO has arrived for resettlement in the Netherlands on a flight sponsored by the Dutch authorities. The group left from a temporary facility in Poland, where they have been hosted by the Polish authorities, since their evacuation from Kabul in August, with logistical support from the Polish armed forces and NATO personnel.
Thanks to Allies’ joint efforts, around 2,000 Afghans who worked with NATO, and their families, were evacuated from Kabul in August, as part of the largest evacuation mission in NATO’s history. NATO worked around the clock to coordinate evacuations and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo and his staff played a key role to this effect. Over the course of two weeks, more than 120,000 people were flown out, on hundreds of Allied flights. Troops from the US, UK, Turkey, and Norway played a key role in securing the airport and operating a field hospital, while around 800 NATO staff maintained key operations such as fuelling and communications. NATO Allies and partners continue to work together to help evacuated Afghans start a new life. Over the last weeks, 80 former Afghan employees and their families resettled in Norway, more than 100 in the United Kingdom, over 100 in Canada, around 100 in Germany, 20 in Iceland, and several hundred more in other Allied countries.