United Nations has proposed to establish a safe zone in Kabul to allow safe passage of people trying to leave Afghanistan
France, Germany and the United Kingdom (U.K.) are working jointly on a United Nations (U.N.) proposal for establishing a safe zone in Kabul to allow safe passage of people trying to leave Afghanistan.
The President of France – Emmanuel Macron said that France has started discussions with Taliban for facilitating further evacuations beyond August 31, 2021, after United States (U.S.) troops officially leave the country. Most of the countries including France and U.K. have completed evacuations from Kabul.
Speaking on the occasion, Macron said, “What we have proposed, and what we plan to bring to the UN Security Council along with Britain and Germany is a solution that we have used before in other operations, which would involve creating a zone allowing people to arrive at that airport.”
He further said, “We have operations to carry out in Afghanistan – the evacuations. The Taliban are the ones in control… we have to have these discussions from a practical point of view. This does not mean there will be recognition.”
Macron also said he is hopeful that the resolution will be welcomed by other countries. France is also working on how flights can be re-established with Afghanistan. France still has several thousand people in Afghanistan whom it wants to protect. Macron also said that Taliban needs to confirm it is willing to respect humanitarian concerns. This would be pivotal for establishing future ties with Taliban.
Taking it to twitter, Macron tweeted (translated in English), “When it was engaged and again after its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014, France has always done its duty: that of protecting. We have not waited in recent weeks to act and welcome the Afghan men and women under threat.” Original tweet in French:
Lorsqu’elle était engagée et encore après son retrait d'Afghanistan en 2014, la France a toujours fait son devoir : celui de protéger. Nous n'avons pas attendu ces dernières semaines pour agir et accueillir les Afghanes et les Afghans menacés. pic.twitter.com/LMDiLXJxjF
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 28, 2021
The Secretary-General of U.N. – Antonio Guterres is convening a meeting on Afghanistan with the U.N. envoys for the U.K., France, U.S., China and Russia, the Security Council’s permanent, veto-wielding members. It is not sure if Russia or China will accept the resolution or see it as an incursion into Afghan sovereignty.
Meanwhile, the Taliban has assured 100 countries that it will continue to allow foreigners and Afghans with foreign travel papers to leave the country in a peaceful manner, after U.S. withdraws its troops. These nations include U.S., U.K., France and Germany.
