Merkel says Germany may need to rescue 10,000 people from Afghanistan

Berlin - Those needing evacuation include 2,500 Afghan support staff as well as human rights activists, lawyers and others

Germany must urgently evacuate up to 10,000 people from Afghanistan for whom it has responsibility, Chancellor Angela Merkel told party colleagues, warning that the fallout from the conflict will last for a very long time.

The remarks, made at a closed-door meeting of her Christian Democrat party on Monday and relayed by meeting participants, reflect growing concern about bloodshed in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized the capital and proclaimed peace.

“We are witnessing difficult times,” Merkel said. “Now we must focus on the rescue mission.”

Merkel said those needing evacuation included 2,500 Afghan support staff as well as human rights activists, lawyers and others whom the government sees as being at risk if they remained in the country, up to 10,000 altogether.

She also said Berlin should cooperate with countries bordering Afghanistan to support those fleeing now, adding: “This topic will keep us busy for a very long time.”

However, Paul Ziemiak, the general secretary of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said Germany could not fix the situation in Afghanistan through a repeat of the open-door migrant policy it pursued in 2015.

Germany opened its borders six years ago to more than 1 million migrants, many of them Syrians, fleeing war and poverty — a bold move that won Merkel plaudits abroad but which proved controversial at home and eroded her party’s standing.

Forty staff from the German embassy were flown to Doha overnight, the spokesperson said, adding a small team of fewer than 10 staff would remain at Kabul airport to coordinate evacuations.