The European Union must prevent Afghan refugees from taking the dangerous smuggling routes to Europe to escape the new Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Therefore, the EU must reserve funding for the accommodation of Afghans in their homeland and in neighbouring countries in Central Asia, according to the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson.
The Commissioner said that the security of the refugees required urgent attention. "We should not wait until people are at our border," Johansson told news agency Euronews last Wednesday (25 August). The European Commission does not want to see the EU surprised by the arrival of a large number of refugees and migrants again, as happened in 2015 with more than 1 million migrants heading to Europe.
With many Afghans expected to flee the new Taliban regime, the EU must "prevent people from taking dangerous smuggling routes", Johansson said. Money and support are needed to prevent this. Johansson points to the additional €200 million in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan that the EU has allocated, but "we will also need more money for neighbouring countries and other countries in the region that are hosting Afghans. That is very clear to me." The Commissioner did not specify an amount.
"The situation is extremely worrying. We know what the Taliban are capable of, so many people are in immediate danger in Afghanistan right now: those fighting for women's rights, for fundamental rights, journalists, authors. So it is important to protect them," Johansson said.
Last Tuesday (24 August), a spokesperson for the European Commission reported that all European Union staff that had to be taken out of Afghanistan had been evacuated. It was not clear whether this concerned only European staff and their families or Afghans who had worked for the EU.
