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The European Parliament wants to make it easier for Afghans who find themselves in humanitarian need in their country to come to the European Union. There should also be special visas for women and humanitarian corridors for escape routes to neighboring countries.
It also concerns support for political opponents of the Taliban and Afghans who have worked for EU countries or foreign missions, according to a press release from the Liaison Office of the EP in the Netherlands.
Most of the Afghans at risk are likely to flee to refugee camps in the region, such as in neighboring Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan. They need humanitarian corridors to and from the Afghan border. The EU countries should also help the receiving neighboring countries with the distribution of food, water and medicines, as well as with the establishment of sanitation facilities.
For some time it has been the custom in some EU countries, including the Netherlands, to return rejected Afghan asylum seekers to Afghanistan because it would be safe there again. However, because of the Taliban takeover, the European Parliament wants EU countries to reassess asylum applications from Afghans.
That also applies to rejected Afghans who are still in the EU. In ieder case, EU countries are not allowed to send them back now, according to a majority of the European Parliament.
"People fleeing war and violence must be received as soon as possible and as close to home as possible, but the international community, including the European Union, must be prepared to assist the countries surrounding Afghanistan," said CDA MEP Jeroen Lenaers. He wants the EU to quickly release a lot of extra money for this. We won't get there with just a hundred million.'
The departure of US and international forces from Afghanistan is a sign of a collective failure of the West's foreign affairs and security policy and strategy, MEPs noted. Serious lessons must be learned from this. This failure works to the advantage of non-Western powers and Afghan neighbors such as Pakistan, China and Russia.
