- Title: Support network for Afghan staff strongly criticises German government
- Date: 24th August 2021
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (AUGUST 24, 2021) (CORONA POOL) CHAIRMAN OF SUPPORT NETWORK FOR AFGHAN STAFF FOUNDED BY GERMAN TROOPS, MARCUS GROTIAN, SEATED AT NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMAN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHAIRMAN OF SUPPORT NETWORK FOR AFGHAN STAFF FOUNDED BY GERMAN TROOPS, MARCUS GROTIAN, SAYING: "We are overwhelmed by the number of offers of help which we can not even begin to process. Since the forces are rightly mentioned in every news conference and their work is appreciated, I, as a representative of civil society, would also like to pay tribute to them. I find the offers of help and the empathy of the public extraordinary and I thank them sincerely, even though we can not respond to everyone." CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHAIRMAN OF SUPPORT NETWORK FOR AFGHAN STAFF FOUNDED BY GERMAN TROOPS, MARCUS GROTIAN, SAYING: "We are overwhelmed with disbelief because government parties and politicians have disregarded the warnings, ignored the evidence and possible solutions, pushed off responsibilities and to this day praise their own methods and actions. Everyone did everything right, only the others did something wrong, best practices, great responsibility of which everyone was always aware everywhere." GROTIAN SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHAIRMAN OF SUPPORT NETWORK FOR AFGHAN STAFF FOUNDED BY GERMAN TROOPS, MARCUS GROTIAN, SAYING: "There are supposed to have been 2,500 local staff. Of those, 1,900 are already in Germany. These figures are by no means correct. There was a much larger number of local staff which was reduced by about 50% due to bureaucratic hurdles, even after the additional 2,000 people were entitled to apply on 16 June." PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHAIRMAN OF SUPPORT NETWORK FOR AFGHAN STAFF FOUNDED BY GERMAN TROOPS, MARCUS GROTIAN, SAYING: "We are the only country that has a time restriction for local staff. Right now, people are being rejected at Kabul airport because they are not on lists because they worked for a ministry which now does not appear in the paperwork. All other countries are now evacuating all local staff. We are evacuating those who have been selected. We find that reprehensible." PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHAIRMAN OF SUPPORT NETWORK FOR AFGHAN STAFF FOUNDED BY GERMAN TROOPS, MARCUS GROTIAN, SAYING: "In general I have the impression that some opportunities were missed to be able to coordinate how local staff, even when it was still possible via specific gates or when the pressure was not yet so great, the opportunity was missed to involve us in order to rescue local staff. The great thing about us is that we have trust. Local staff in Afghanistan trust us because we have been trying to help them for months." JOURNALISTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHAIRMAN OF SUPPORT NETWORK FOR AFGHAN STAFF FOUNDED BY GERMAN TROOPS, MARCUS GROTIAN, SAYING: "So from our point of view, it's about 8,000 local staff and family members. Because everything changes all the time let's just talk about persons, persons who are eligible to apply, who have worked for us and their family members, only core family, because brothers, sisters, mothers are of course not eligible. That by the way is something else we criticise." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 7th September 2021 10:52
- Keywords: Afghanistan evacuation support network for Afghan staff
- Location: BERLIN & FRANKFURT & DOVERLUG-KIRCHHAIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN & FRANKFURT & DOVERLUG-KIRCHHAIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA001ERN1GEF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The support network for local Afghan staff strongly criticised the German government on Tuesday (August 24) for failing to help and demanded an evacuation without hurdles.
German army officer and head of the German organisation founded by troops, Marcus Grotian, told reporters during a news conference in Berlin that they felt "overwhelmed and bitter".
He said they were overwhelmed by the countless offers of help and the empathy of the people in Germany, but they were also overwhelmed with disbelief, "because government parties and politicians have disregarded the warnings, ignored the evidence and possible solutions, pushed off responsibilities."
Grotian spoke of a total of 8,000 local staff and their close relatives who should have a right to leave. Of these, he said, perhaps just under 2000 were in Germany. Grotian demanded that bureaucratic hurdles be dropped and that not only those people on ministerial lists be flown out.
Grotian accused the German government of making the procedure for leaving the country too bureaucratic from the start. Cooperation between the responsible ministries had not worked out. He had therefore repeatedly turned to the Chancellor's Office.
The support network for local Afghan staff aims to help them leave the country and make it easier for them to get a start in Germany. Grotian was himself deployed in Afghanistan for the Bundeswehr.
(Production: Matthias Rietschel, Hakan Erdem, Ulrike Heil) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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