The UK’s ambassador to Afghanistan, who put his own evacuation plans on hold to help British nationals and their Afghan allies leave the country after its fall to the Taliban, has posted a video update from Kabul.
In the days prior to the militant group sweeping into the capital on Sunday, following the steady withdrawal of Nato troops in support of the national government, reports had indicated that the UK embassy was to be swiftly evacuated, mirroring a rush by the US and other Western nations to do the same.
Indeed, by Saturday night, only tens of British officials and diplomats remained in Afghanistan, down from close to 500 earlier in the week.
But amid the ensuing panic, as key officials including president Ashraf Ghani fled abroad and the US was forced to temporarily shut the airport after desperate Afghans flooded the runway seeking the safety many of them had been promised, it emerged that the UK ambassador, Sir Laurie Bristow had remained in post to personally help process visa applications.
“I’ve just stepped out of the evacuation handling centre for a moment,” Sir Laurie said in a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday.
“We’re putting everything we can into getting British nationals and Afghans who have worked with us in the past out of Afghanistan and to safety.”
Reporting that some 700 people had been evacuated on Tuesday, he added: “We’re trying to scale up the pace over the next couple of days … try to get out everyone who we need to get to safety as soon as we can.”
Sir Laurie, whose three-decade career with the Foreign Office has seen him hold diplomatic posts in Europe, Asia and the Middle East ahead of a stint as the department’s director of national security, said he was “very proud” of the evacuation team working at the airport.
Downing Street had earlier said he had been joined by diplomatic staff and officials from the Home Office, while Sir Laurie referenced colleagues from “across government”.
As a result of the withdrawal of Nato troops from Afghanistan, initiated in part by former US president Donald Trump in 2019 and progressed by his successor Joe Biden, the UK had set up the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) to allow its local allies in the country to seek refuge in Britain.
The scheme had seen more than 2,200 Afghans relocated by July, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and had been expanded to include family members, former employees who had resigned or been dismissed and those now based outside Afghanistan.
But last month dozens of former British military commanders warned that hundreds of interpreters – supposedly on the MoD’s “eligible by default” list – had seen their applications rejected. Those who had been dismissed from service “without any due process or ability to appeal” are still excluded from ARAP, the commanders said.
World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 24 August 2021 People take pictures of fireworks outside the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 23 August 2021 Staff members spraying disinfectant at a school ahead of the new semester in Bozhou, China’s eastern Anhui province AFP/Getty World news in pictures 22 August 2021 A Taliban fighter stands guard at a checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan area in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan AP World news in pictures 21 August 2021 Mexican firefighters known as “Topos” work in the early morning hours in a search and rescue mission, amid the rubble from last week’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake, in Les Cayes, Haiti AP World news in pictures 20 August 2021 Bangladeshi vendor sells a religious item during a Muharram event at the premises of Hussaini Dalan in Dhaka, Bangladesh EPA World news in pictures 19 August 2021 Law enforcement officers with rifles take position near the US Capitol building in Washington DC as police investigate a possible explosive device in a truck near the heart of American government AP World news in pictures 18 August 2021 A Taliban fighter patrols in Wazir Akbar Khan in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan AP World news in pictures 17 August 2021 Art students paint messages of solidarity with people at risk in Afghanistan’s crisis outside an art school in Mumbai AFP/Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2021 Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport AFP via Getty World news in pictures 15 August 2021 Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Kandahar province in southwest Afghanistan AP World news in pictures 14 August 2021 A collapsed building is seen in Les Cayes, Haiti following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake which left at least 29 people dead Reuters World news in pictures 13 August 2021 Perseids are seen next to Milky Way during the annual Perseid meteor shower at Tres Mares peak, in Cantabria, northern Spain EPA World news in pictures 12 August 2021 A woman sits along the broken steps of a partially-collapsed building destroyed by bombardment during the May 2021 conflict between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City AFP via Getty World news in pictures 11 August 2021 People stranded at the Pakistani-Afghan border wait for its reopening after it was closed by the Talibans, who have taken over the control of the Afghan side of the border at Chaman, Pakistan EPA World news in pictures 10 August 2021 Supporters cheer outside French football club Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes stadium in Paris after Argentinian football player Lionel Messi landed in Le Bourget airport to sign for the club AFP/Getty World news in pictures 9 August 2021 People perform a folk dance to traditional music as they celebrate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in Mumbai, India EPA World news in pictures 8 August 2021 Thank you messages is displayed inside the stadium during the Olympic closing ceremony in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 7 August 2021 Pro-democracy protesters clash with police during a demonstration demanding Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-Ochas and King Maha Vajiralongkorn be held accountable for the governments failure to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, in Bangkok AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 August 2021 Members of local NPO release paper lanterns on Motoyasu River in front of beside the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, as it was known before 1945, and now called the Atomic Bomb Dome, as the city marks the 76th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bomb attack AFP/Getty World news in pictures 5 August 2021 The Men’s Decathletes pose for a photo following their competition on day thirteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan Getty World news in pictures 4 August 2021 Maronite clergymen pray near damaged grain silos at the port of Lebanon’s capital on the first anniversary of the blast that ravaged the port and the city AFP/Getty World news in pictures 3 August 2021 An underwater view shows France’s Charlotte and Laura Tremble during the women’s duet technical routine artistic swimming event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games AFP/Getty World news in pictures 2 August 2021 Germany compete in the women’s team pursuit qualifying event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Izu Velodrome AFP/Getty World news in pictures 1 August 2021 enezuela’s Yulimar Rojas competes in the women’s triple jump final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Rojas took gold and broke the Olympic and World Record in the process AFP/Getty World news in pictures 31 July 2021 Elaine Thompson-Herah celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the gold medal ahead of Jamaican teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the women’s 100m final at the Tokyo Olympic Games Reuters World news in pictures 30 July 2021 Athletes compete during the men’s 3000m Steeplechase at the Tokyo Olympics Reuters World news in pictures 29 July 2021 Athletes compete in the BMX men’s Olympic quarter-finals run at the Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo AFP/Getty World news in pictures 28 July 2021 A picture taken with a drone shows researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University investigating a dead fin whale found in the harbor of Terneuzen, The Netherlands EPA World news in pictures 27 July 2021 People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk past extra papers reporting on Japanese gold medalists at Tokyo Olympics AP World news in pictures 26 July 2021 The ball hits Thailand’s Orawan Paranang’s face as she competes against Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa during her women’s singles round 3 table tennis match at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games AFP via Getty Images World news in pictures 25 July 2021 A woman walks in the rubble after flooding due to heavy rains in Dinant, Belgium, a week after more than 30 people were killed in floods in the country EPA World news in pictures 24 July 2021 A firefighter uses a drip torch to light a backfire in an effort to stop the spread of the Dixie fire in Prattville, California AFP/Getty World news in pictures 23 July 2021 An overview shows Japan’s tennis player Naomi Osaka lighting the flame of hope in the Olympic Cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, at the Olympic Stadium, in Tokyo AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 July 2021 People wade through a flooded street following a heavy rain in Zhengzhou, in China’s Henan province AFP/Getty World news in pictures 21 July 2021 People celebrate in Brisbane, Australia, following an announcement by the International Olympic Committee that the city was picked to host the 2032 Olympics AAP Image via AP World news in pictures 20 July 2021 Muslims attending the Eid Al-Adha prayer at Skenderbej Square in Tirana AFP/Getty World news in pictures 19 July 2021 Muslim pilgrims gather on Mount Mercy on the plains of Arafat during the annual Haj pilgrimage outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia Reuters World news in pictures 18 July 2021 People protest against the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan Reuters World news in pictures 17 July 2021 A long exposure photograph shows Muslim pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand mosque in the holy Saudi city of Mecca during the annual hajj pilgrimage AFP/Getty World news in pictures 16 July 2021 A van crushed by the torrents is pressed against a tree after the floods caused major damage in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, western Germany AFP/Getty World news in pictures 15 July 2021 A staff member sits at an interactive digital installation “Fire / Forest and Spiral of Resonating Lamps in the Forest” during a media preview of “teamLab: A Forest Where Gods Live” at the lobby of Mifuneyama Rakuen Hotel, Takeo Hot Springs in Saga prefecture AFP/Getty World news in pictures 14 July 2021 Pupils of the Special Military School of Saint-Cyr march during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris AFP/Getty World news in pictures 13 July 2021 Rescuers look for bodies after a catastrophic blaze erupted Monday at a coronavirus hospital ward in the al-Hussein Teaching Hospital, in Nasiriyah, Iraq AP World news in pictures 12 July 2021 People try to recover a car damaged during flash floods after heavy monsoon rains in Bhagsunag, a popular tourist town in Himachal Pradesh, India AP World news in pictures 11 July 2021 Police cars are seen overturned in the street in the framework of a demonstration against Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana AFP via Getty Images World news in pictures 10 July 2021 Tanya and Evance Chanda from Mechanicsville look on as a statue of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson is removed after years of a legal battle over the contentious monument, in Charlottesville, Virginia Reuters World news in pictures 9 July 2021 Hundreds of Haitians gather in front of the US embassy in the hope that they will be granted a visa to leave their country, due the uncertainty of what may happen after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti EPA World news in pictures 8 July 2021 NGOs fly huge rainbow balloon at Hungary’s parliament protesting against anti-LGBT law in Budapest Reuters World news in pictures 7 July 2021 The Ever Given leaves the Suez Canal after its Japanese owners reached a settlement following more than three months and a court standoff over compensation for it blocking the crucial east-west waterway for nearly a week earlier this year Getty World news in pictures 6 July 2021 Queen Maxima of the Netherlands arrives to be greeted by German Chancellor at the Chancellery in Berlin AFP/Getty
While some 600 military personnel have been drafted in over the past week to help with the evacuation of British nationals and to “accelerate” the ARAP effort, defence secretary Ben Wallace broke down during an interview on Monday as he admitted: “Some people won’t get back. And we will have to do our best as third countries to process those people.”
The ongoing evacuation effort, dubbed Operation Pitting, was said to be aiming to rescue some 4,000 UK nationals and eligible Afghans from Kabul, where – despite the Taliban’s pledge of an “amnesty” for its political opponents – reports have emerged of “targeted killings”, abductions and door-to-door searches.
While military evacuation flights resumed at Kabul airport on Tuesday morning, the escape route was temporarily closed after thousands rushed onto the runway seeking a way out of Afghanistan. Seven deaths were reported, with gunshots, stampedes and falls from an airborne plane among the possible causes posited by witnesses and and anonymous US military officials.
On Wednesday, the chief of the UK’s defence staff, General Sir Nick Carter, warned that the next 24 hours would be “critical” in the rescue mission, with at least seven aircraft expected to head to Kabul and bring back another 1,000 in that period.
At least 2,200 diplomats and other civilians had already been airlifted out in previous days and there are no reports of people facing difficulties in leaving Afghanistan, the general told the BBC.
On top of the ARAP scheme, the UK has since agreed to take in 5,000 Afghan refugees over the next year, with a more vague pledge to accept 20,000 “in the long-term”.
While the newly announced resettlement scheme has been widely criticised as inadequate, Boris Johnson’s spokesperson told The Independent that the number reflected “our expectations of how many people will be able to both be seeking to leave, and will be able to leave, over that time period”.
