As Afghanistan collapse triggers desperate scenes, European officials vow to avoid another 2015
By Loveday Morris and Reis Thebault,
BERLIN — Six years ago, Germany’s message to asylum seekers fleeing Syria’s war was one of welcome.
“We can do this” were German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s famous words.
But as security in Afghanistan spectacularly collapses, the message from Germany’s governing party has shifted, with a clear message: not this time.
“2015 must not repeat itself,” Armin Laschet, the leader of Merkel’s Christian Democrats who is vying to replace her as chancellor, told reporters Monday. Speaking to Bild television, Markus Söder, the premier of the German state of Bavaria, struck a similar tone. In 2015, there was no “control and guidance,” he said.
As cities in Afghanistan have fallen to the Taliban with lightning speed amid the U.S. military’s pullout, Europe has been wrangling over what to do about any potential influx of refugees. Some countries fear a repeat of 2015, when the arrival of more than a million refugees and migrants caused political chaos.
Both France and Germany have said that while they will step up evacuation efforts for Afghans who have assisted their military and diplomatic missions, alongside human rights workers and activists, an international solution must be found for the rest.
“Europe cannot shoulder the consequences of the current situation alone,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address on Monday. “We must anticipate and protect ourselves against significant irregular migration flows that would endanger those who use them and fuel trafficking of all kinds.”
Söder called on Washington to take a lead on refugees.
“In my opinion, primarily the Americans need to step in and provide a solution, because they led this mission and decided by themselves to leave the country,” he said.
Austria, where last month’s arrest of three Afghans for the rape and killing of a 13-year-old girl has hardened an already hard-line policy on asylum-seekers, is pushing for new ways to secure Europe’s external borders from an influx — as well as a mechanism to ensure failed Afghan asylum seekers in Europe can still be deported from the continent.
This comes amid scenes of desperation at Kabul’s international airport as thousands of residents tried to scramble onto planes after Taliban militants entered the capital. Experts say the rhetoric in Europe overexaggerates the threat of an influx, and the small proportion of displaced Afghans who make it to the continent have the right to a fair asylum procedure.
“I think the shadow of 2015 is just a shadow. We are in a completely different place now,” said Niamh Nic Carthaigh, the director of E.U. policy and advocacy for the International Rescue Committee, a refugee aid organization.
The number of people who enter the European Union — either through asylum or refugee resettlement — will likely be far smaller than the number of those displaced internally or to neighboring countries. Since 2015, Europe has significantly beefed up its external border security, while Greece has been accused by rights groups of carrying out illegal “pushbacks” of refugees.
“Let’s take a reality check and look at where the needs are,” Nic Carthaigh said.
The crisis complicates an already politically sensitive time for several countries in Europe, including Germany, which expects tightly fought elections in September.
The response will be a “litmus test” for European values, Nic Carthaigh said. The E.U.’s Foreign Affairs Council, which is responsible for guiding the bloc’s foreign policy, is slated to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
An E.U. official said negotiations among member states are “delicate,” with some countries wary of accepting migrants for “domestic political reasons,” and many governments hoping to prevent migration flows from reaching Europe. Tuesday’s meeting will be an early barometer of how member countries plan to respond to the crisis, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.
“There are too many variables in this equation, it’s very hard to predict,” said the official, adding that any policies the bloc proposes would be “up to the member states to implement.”
E.U. leaders are communicating with Afghanistan’s neighbors, including Iran, and the bloc may provide them with humanitarian support to help deal with any influx of people fleeing the Taliban while keeping refugees in the region.
But the top priority is the evacuation of local staff from Afghanistan, Nabila Massrali, a spokesperson for E.U. foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, said in a statement.
“We cannot leave behind the staff that have worked for the E.U. for years, facing an uncertain future under Taliban rule,” Massrali said. “The situation is extremely complex and difficult, but solidarity among member states is strong and we are grateful for the cooperation.”
In Germany, the government has faced a backlash for not acting sooner to evacuate its support staff, with officials admitting they misjudged the speed with which the Taliban could take over. Merkel described the situation as “bitter, dramatic and terrifying” in televised comments on Monday.
She said that while E.U. ministers would meet to hash out wider plans on how to deal with Afghanistan, evacuations of those who have supported the German mission are paramount for now.
In a statement on Monday, Austria’s Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said that the situation in Afghanistan is not only a “huge challenge for illegal migration in Europe” but that the “terrorist threat” must also be assessed.
Catherine Woollard, director of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, said political rhetoric has been out of proportion with the problem.
“Our fear would be that we see the same kind of panic that has traditionally gripped Europe,” she said, “even when the numbers of people arriving are manageable and could be managed by simply ensuring that asylum systems are ready to quickly and fairly process applications.”
Thebault reported from Brussels. Frederik Seeler in Berlin and Rick Noack in Paris contributed to this report.
Afghans who helped the West left in limbo as evacuation turns chaotic
Afghanistan’s neighbors watch warily as Taliban completes its dramatic takeover
