Swiss govt says it won't accept large groups of Afghan refugees

Amid chaotic scenes in Kabul as thousands of Afghans attempt to flee the Taliban takeover, Switzerland has said it will not accept large groups of refugees from the war-torn country, but is prioritizing helping its local staff.

After a Swiss Army unit arrived in Kabul to assess the tumultuous situation, the Alpine country said on Wednesday it had decided against accepting mass intakes of Afghans and instead will assess applications for asylum on a case-by-case basis.

“Switzerland is not going to sit back and do nothing,” Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said, adding “we must first look at what the needs are.”

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Meanwhile, Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said that she understood appeals to take in large numbers of desperate Afghan refugees, but it was not currently possible. “There are different UN organizations trying to work out in an unclear situation if and how many people need long-term protection and if these people need to be resettled,” she told reporters.

The Swiss government said that humanitarian visas would only be considered for people facing an “immediate, concrete, serious and directly life-threatening threat.”

The statement came as reports emerged of the Taliban opening fire on civilians protesting against the militant group in Jalalabad, and following shocking footage on Monday showing several Afghans plunging to their deaths after climbing onto the exterior of US military aircraft in heartbreaking attempts to escape via Kabul airport.

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Similar to other foreign governments, Switzerland has prioritized evacuating its own nationals from Afghanistan, as well as 348 locals who worked on the ground for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and their families, who the Swiss government said could be seen as “Western collaborators” by the Taliban. 

The Swiss Foreign Ministry tweeted on Monday that the remaining three Swiss staff members of the development office had landed in Doha.

The humanitarian and security situation in Afghanistan has rapidly worsened since the withdrawal of US troops started in earnest in May – a decision initiated by former President Donald Trump and implemented by current President Joe Biden. More and more key cities fell to Taliban militants in recent weeks, with the group capturing the capital on Monday.

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