LONDON: British Foreign Office left many allied nations in Afghanistan and leave them to the mercy of the Taliban during the fall of the capital, Kabul, for the evacuation effort dysfunctional and arbitrary, a whistleblower alleged Tuesday.
In destroying evidence to parliamentary committees, Raphael Marshall said thousands of requests for help through unread mails between August 21 and August 25 Former employees of the State Department estimates that only 5% of Afghans applied to escape under the program UK aid received , He said that at one point, he is the only person monitoring your inbox.
“Usually there are more than 5,000 unread emails in your inbox at a given time, including many unread emails are from the beginning of August,” he wrote to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, which is investigating the chaotic British departure from Afghanistan.
“This email is already desperate and urgent.
I was impressed with many titles, including phrases such as ‘please save my children’.” Marshall said some of those left behind have been killed by the Taliban.
As the Taliban took power in August, the United States, Britain and other nations scrambled to evacuate Afghans who have worked with Western forces and others at risk of violent reprisals.
England managed to transport 15,000 people overseas in two weeks, and the government says it has since helped more than 3,000 people to leave Afghanistan.
But Afghanistan Resettlement Scheme announced by the government in August with the aim of bringing 20,000 people into the UK has not gotten underway.
Former Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, who was transferred from the Foreign Office to become Minister of Justice after the crisis, defending his actions.
“Some of the criticism seems somewhat dislocated from the facts on the ground, the operational pressure with the Taliban takeover, which was unexpected in the whole world,” he told the BBC.
“I think that not enough recognition has been given to quite how difficult it was.” Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative MP who heads the foreign affairs committee, said Marshall’s testimony “raises serious questions about the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” This committee for employee quiz senior Foreign Office civil Tuesday.
Taliban invaded Afghanistan in late summer, catch all the major cities in a matter of days, when the Afghan security forces trained and equipped by the US and its allies melt.
The Taliban took over Kabul on August 15.
Many who have worked for the Western powers or the government fears that the country could descend into chaos or the Taliban could carry out revenge attacks against them.
Many also fear the Taliban will reimpose harsh interpretation of Islamic law that they rely on when they ran Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
At that time, women must wear the burqa covers all and is accompanied by a brother every time they go outside.
The Taliban banned music, cutting off the hands of thieves and stoning adulterers.