Tens of thousands of pleas for help from those under threat went unanswered in a system incapable of handling the situation, said a former Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office official. Some of those who were abandoned were subsequently murdered by the Taliban and other Islamist groups.
Raphael Marshall, who worked as a desk officer during the crisis, described how for one afternoon in the middle of the airlift he found himself as the only one monitoring the Afghan Special Cases Inbox when thousands of requests for help, from government ministers, MPs and charities, as well as Afghans, were pouring in.
He estimated that between 75,000 and 150,000 people, including dependents, applied for evacuation. “Fewer than 5 per cent of those received any assistance” with the consequence that “it is clear that some of those left behind have since been murdered by the Taliban”, Mr Marshall said.
Giving evidence to an inquiry into the Afghan evacuation by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Marshall claimed Dominic Raab, then foreign secretary, took several hours to deal with cases which needed his approval as the window for the airlift was coming to a close.
Mr Raab, he says, then stipulated through his private office that he needed “all the cases set out in a well-presented table to make decisions”. The foreign secretary’s “choice to cause a delay” when time was running out for people to get to Kabul airport “suggests he did not understand the desperate situation”, Mr Marshall said.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 07, 2021 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 07, 2021 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
How Spacey's career came down like a house of cards
As anew documentary reveals more harrowing allegations against the star of American Beauty’, Nick Hilton tells the story of an actor whose own character remains an enigma
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
House prices are down and mortgage costs are up. So how long will buyers and sellers have to wait before the market begins to show signs of life? James Moore digs into the data
Wilson on top after black ball finish halts Jones surge
World Snooker Championship final to resume this afternoon
Norris wins maiden grand prix to end Verstappen run
The Briton, 24, dedicates victory in Miami to his grandma’
Chelsea crush West Ham on late surge for Europe
Chelsea kept up their electric goalscoring form at home and boosted their hopes of securing a Europa League spot with a 5-0 thrashing of West Ham.
Anfield thrills to one more Klopp rollercoaster ride
Eight and a half years after Jurgen Klopp’s reign began against Tottenham, five years after it peaked in a Champions League final against them, Spurs may prove a final example of what made it great and why Anfield will mourn the German.
I'd vote for getting rid of the virtue-signalling smug selfies
A picture can tell a thousand words – but it doesn’t always.
More people should settle their differences with poetry
There’s a lot of conflict in the world right now
'Stop and search' shows that we live in a two-tier society
A few years ago, I went to Westfield in Stratford, east London. I find going shopping a bore at the best of times, so the idea of a place where all the stores I might want to go to are under one roof – a shopping centre, if you will – sounded super convenient, if also my idea of a living hell.
Tory voters won't thank us if we replace the prime minister
The results of the local and police and crime commissioner elections in England were supposed to follow a clear narrative – that Labour was on course for a massive parliamentary majority in a general election, and that Rishi Sunak’s premiership would be on the rocks, with rebel factions waiting to displace him.