Finland to Grant Residence Permits to 220 Afghans Working for Finnish Authorities, NATO & EU Due to Situation in Afghanistan -…

Finnish authorities have announced that due to the security situation created in Afghanistan, that Afghans and their families working in Afghanistan, for authorities of Finland, the EU, and NATO can obtain their residence permit in Finland.

These people will be taken from Afghanistan to Finland by a charter flight organized by the state, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

This decision was taken in an extraordinary session on August 13, as the underlying assessment is that Afghans and their families may face human rights violations in the future.

According to this decision, 130 people who are or have been employed by the Finnish government, EU institutions, or NATO, can be admitted to Finland, including their families, which are considered the members of the family and adult unmarried children living in the same household.

Furthermore, about 40 people and their families from Afghanistan can also get a residence permit issued by Finland authorities. With this decision, Finland will also allow a maximum of ten persons, including family members, who were previously employed by the Kabul mission and whose employment relationship was still valid on January 1, 2021.

The Finnish government will also permit about 50 people and their families recruited from the European Union Representation in Kabul or the European Union Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) to apply for residence. In addition, Finland may take on a maximum of 30 persons and their families employed by the NATO crisis management operation.

In May, NATO began its final withdrawal from its mission in Afghanistan with about 9,600 soldiers, 2,500 of which were American. Right after, a bomb blast outside a girls school on May 9 left 85 people dead, most of them being pupils.

By mid-May, American soldiers left Afghanistans largest airbases in Kandahar, the second-largest city, which was soon seized by the Taliban forces.

In June, the forces captured several districts in the northern provinces, including the Shir Khan Bandar border crossing with Tajikistan on June 22.

On July 2, all American and NATO troops were withdrawn from Bagram, Afghanistans biggest airbase, after serving its mission for two decades. Two days later, the Taliban captured the key district of Panjwai in Kandahar, and they announced the capture of the border crossing point with Iran, Islam Qala, on July 9.

By the beginning of August, eight people were killed in bomb and gun attacks by the Taliban, targeted at the Afghan defence minister. A few days later, the Taliban shot the head of the Afghan governments media information centre at a mosque in the capital and then captured their first provincial capital, the city of Zaranj.

On the following days, Kunduz, Sheberghan, Sar-e-Pul, Taloqan, Aibak, and Farah also fell under Taliban rule without a fight.

On August 15, Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan, fled the country and admitted the Taliban had won in a statement.

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Finland to Grant Residence Permits to 220 Afghans Working for Finnish Authorities, NATO & EU Due to Situation in Afghanistan -...