An RNZAF Hercules at Whenuapai Airbase prepared for a mercy flight to Afghanistan. Photo / Michael Craig
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warns a mercy dash to Kabul to rescue New Zealanders and Afghan allies might not be able to evacuate everyone they want to.
It comes as the situation in the Afghanistan capital worsens, just days after the Taliban reclaimed control of the country after a 20-year war.
"I am concerned that because of the situation on the ground, that we do need to start working on what the next stage will be, because it does not look like we're going to get everyone out that we want to get out," Ardern said on Saturday.
"There is a certain window everyone is using, to use the secure space available at Kabul airport, but it is an entirely separate issue people's ability to connect safely with the airport."
On Friday it was confirmed the first New Zealanders trapped in Afghanistan since the Taliban dramatically took power have been whisked out of the country on a mercy dash.
American soldiers and other Nato allies are in control of security inside the airport.
But with the Taliban controlling checkpoints in and out of Kabul airport, access has been "extremely difficult", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade acknowledges.
As disturbing images continue to come in from outside Kabul airport, where thousands of desperate Afghans have been trying to flocking to since the Taliban took control of the war-torn country on Sunday, the New Zealand Government made the urgent decision to send help.
Officials have been contacting individuals stuck in Afghanistan and making arrangements to try to get them out.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) C-130 Hercules aircraft flew out of RNZAF Base Auckland Thursday morning on a mercy dash to Kabul to rescue New Zealanders, interpreters, and others who worked with Kiwi troops fighting the Taliban.
20 Aug, 2021 10:18 PMQuick Read
20 Aug, 2021 08:02 PMQuick Read
20 Aug, 2021 04:49 AMQuick Read
20 Aug, 2021 04:01 AMQuick Read
MFAT says it is aware of 161 New Zealanders and their families in Afghanistan who are eligible to enter New Zealand, "many of whom we are providing consular support".
Staff are also assisting a small number of people who the Government has determined as having worked alongside NZDF, including interpreters, and those who materially assisted in the Operation Burnham inquiry and on police and aid missions.
Ardern said on Saturday New Zealand was working with its partners who were assisting the New Zealand effort now, and New Zealand staff would assist others once they arrived.
"I don't believe we arrived too late. It is an international effort, not just uplifting our people. We are working closely together to pick up one another's citizens and Afghani nationals."
According to the United Nations' refugee agency, about 250,000 Afghans have been forced to flee their homes since late May, most of them women and children.
Both Canada and the United Kingdom have pledged to take in 20,000 Afghan refugees, but Ardern said New Zealand would not yet be making a decision on that.
New Zealand was looking to further increase its refugee quota, but it was too soon to say what the Afghani makeup would be, she said.
"This will be an area where there will be a large number of refugees in the future and that is something we will work through."
Per head of population, New Zealand has one of the lowest rates of refugee acceptance in the world even after the current Government increased the annual refugee quota by 500.
It accepts 1500 refugees a year - or about 0.3 refugees per 1000 people. This ranks New Zealand 95th in the world.
Similar-sized countries like Norway and Ireland accept 11.29 and 1.22 refugees per 1000 residents, ranking them 15th and 69th respectively.
National Party foreign affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee said it was a "chaotic situation" and not fair to say if anybody should have acted sooner.
"Intelligence clearly was that Kabul would not fall and there would be time for an arrangement with the Taliban.
"It is a horrible situation. I do not think we are able to say anything should have been done sooner, it is just a mess."
On refugees, Brownlee said it would be "some time" before agencies were able to figure out where Afghan people would fall in the international refugee programme.
There were already about 20 million people displaced around the world.
"If you just go to the latest hotspot then you are leaving out others who have been in that situation longer."
More here:
- Jacinda Ardern fury as NZ in lockdown after ONE Covid case: 'Never-ending nightmare' - Daily Express [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2021]
- Should we be wearing masks while exercising? Jacinda Ardern, Ashley Bloomfield respond to confusion - Newshub [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2021]
- Lockdowns or Vaccines? 3 Pacific Nations Try Diverging Paths - VOA Asia [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2021]
- COVID-19: Jacinda Ardern defends pace locations of interest are released to public after Wellington Mayor criticism - Newshub [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2021]
- Jacinda Ardern asks the Taliban to be 'nice' to women - The Spectator Australia [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2021]
- Graham Adams: Is Jacinda Ardern the Messiah? Or just a very crafty politician? - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2021]
- Will Jacinda Ardern Suffer Churchills Fate Once The (Covid) War Is Over? - Forbes [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2021]
- Covid-19: 'Prepare for the inevitability of community transmission' - Stuff.co.nz [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern admits nation can't get rid of coronavirus | TheHill - The Hill [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- Why Jacinda Ardern giving up on eliminating COVID-19 is a political gamble for the popular PM - ABC News [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- New Zealand increases climate aid ahead of UN summit - The Indian Express [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2021]
- Covid 19: No change likely for Auckland, Waikato but alert levels now on borrowed time - Stuff.co.nz [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2021]
- Anniversary of a landslide: new research reveals what really swung New Zealand's 2020 'COVID election' - The Conversation AU [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2021]
- Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Scathing feedback from experts on Jacinda Ardern's traffic light system to replace alert levels - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2021]
- Why Jacinda Arderns clumsy leadership response to Delta could still be the right approach - The Conversation AU [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2021]
- Everyday activities won't be available to the unvaccinated - Jacinda Ardern - RNZ [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2021]
- When will Aucklanders turn on Jacinda Ardern? - MacroBusiness [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2021]
- Time for the National Party to embrace kindness - Stuff.co.nz [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2021]
- Leadership in the time of Covid is a thankless job, in politics and in sport - Stuff.co.nz [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2021]
- New Zealand PM Ardern backs Five Eyes, open to other alliances - Reuters [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2021]
- PM Jacinda Ardern: 'Throughout this pandemic one of the hardest things to do has been to plan' - RNZ [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2021]
- Covid 19 Delta outbreak: PM Jacinda Ardern on Covid, visit to Auckland, and National Party turmoil - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2021]
- COVID-19: No reason to cancel Christmas over Omicron variant - Jacinda Ardern - Newshub [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2021]
- It's Dangerous to Allow Politicians and Officials to Decide What Constitutes 'Truth' - Reason [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- Government needs to work with businesses - Otago Daily Times [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- New Zealands successful Covid policies hid inequality the government cant ignore it this year - The Guardian [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- Nearly halfway through the term, parties start to stake out territory - Stuff [Last Updated On: April 14th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2022]
- Jacinda Ardern and Christopher Luxon's letters to each other revealed - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: April 14th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2022]
- The Front Page: Why neither Louisa Wall nor Jacinda Ardern look good in departure drama - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: April 14th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2022]
- Parliament protest: Jacinda Ardern came into contact with Covid-infected cops while thanking them - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: April 14th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2022]
- On budget day, will Labour be bold enough to seize back the cost-of-living narrative? - The Spinoff [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2022]
- Rugs, perfume, couture: What PM and other MPs declared - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2022]
- Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: 9392 new Covid cases and 9 deaths, 7 in ICU - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2022]
- Two-tier visa system a 'kick in the guts' - RNZ [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2022]
- PM Jacinda Ardern says soft on crime claims 'just wrong' as former detective hails NZ Police's international reputation - Newshub [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2022]
- The Magnificent Seven: The Knight and Dames Jacinda Ardern didn't want to mess with - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2022]
- Taranaki man charged with threatening to kill Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2022]
- Ardern horrified as New Zealand faces record housing crash - MacroBusiness [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- School lunches: Mum's photo of school lunch shows what some school kids are offered - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- 7 Women To Watch At The UN General Assembly - Forbes [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- She has the power! - The Tribune India [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- Government outlines new laws to crackdown on hidden criminal wealth - Stuff [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- NZ government's Working with Survivors continues cover-up of Pike River mine disaster - WSWS [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- PM Jacinda Ardern won't confirm whether Government planning to scrap mask mandates, says they're under review - Newshub [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- New Zealand will continue to cooperate with more assertive China ... [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- Jacinda Ardern to travel to New York for UN meeting later this month - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern - Prime Minister of New Zealand - NZ Labour Party [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2022]
- Jacinda Ardern makes final appearance as New Zealand leader - Los ... [Last Updated On: January 31st, 2023] [Originally Added On: January 31st, 2023]
- Jacinda Ardern | Biography, Facts, & Partner | Britannica [Last Updated On: January 31st, 2023] [Originally Added On: January 31st, 2023]
- Jacinda Ardern speech: New Zealand's former prime minister delivers emotional final speech to Parliament: "You can be a mother ... you can lead,... [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2023] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2023]
- Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will donate clothing to Te Papa - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2023] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2023]
- Jacinda Ardern appointed trustee of Prince William's Earthshot Prize - BBC [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2023] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2023]
- Jacinda Ardern joins The Earthshot Prize as a Trustee - Earthshot Prize [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2023] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2023]
- Jacinda Ardern says goodbye to parliament: how her politics of kindness fell on unkind times - The Conversation [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2023] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2023]
- New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern takes on a new role after leaving politics this week - NPR [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2023] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2023]
- Harry, Meghan called toxic as Jacinda Ardern joins Prince William's project - Hindustan Times [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2023] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2023]