"We cannot leave behind unattended over 30 million Afghan people," Emergency head says
Record ID:
1634022
"We cannot leave behind unattended over 30 million Afghan people," Emergency head says
- Title: "We cannot leave behind unattended over 30 million Afghan people," Emergency head says
- Date: 27th August 2021
- Summary: NAPLES, ITALY (AUGUST 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) PRESIDENT OF ITALIAN AID GROUP EMERGENCY, ROSELLA MICCIO, SAYING: “It was very tiring, exhausting. They finished with the last patient around 4:00 A.M. this morning so the three theatres have been working all night long basically but this morning fortunately it was quiet. There were still some people outside of the gate mainly those who are still looking for their relatives so they are going around all the hospitals in Kabul trying to find still alive some of their family members. And of course, the hospital is full at the moment so they were doing their morning round trying to understand if there is any possibility to discharge some older patient that is in the recovery phase in order to leave some empty beds for possible new emergencies.†ROME, ITALY (AUGUST 27, 2021) (REUTERS) CUTAWAY NAPLES, ITALY (AUGUST 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) PRESIDENT OF ITALIAN AID GROUP EMERGENCY, ROSELLA MICCIO, SAYING: “Everybody is concerned at this moment in Kabul nobody knows what to expect actually in the coming hours. So the massive crowd outside of the airport is definitely a possible target and we hope that nothing like what happened yesterday will happen again but Kabul has been for the past few years really a place where every single day there were suicide attacks are from everybody including Isis-related groups so people in Kabul are not surprised, they are just tired and exhausted because they say they would like to get rid of war finally but they see that the light at the end of the tunnel is still far away." ROME, ITALY (AUGUST 27, 2021) (REUTERS) CUTAWAY NAPLES, ITALY (AUGUST 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) PRESIDENT OF ITALIAN AID GROUP EMERGENCY, ROSELLA MICCIO, SAYING: “They told me that around the hospital it is quiet, so today is Friday so it's the off day it is quiet and there are not many cars around I think people are scared that there is a sort of suspended feeling, atmosphere, people are so scared of going around, I guess. Fortunately, all the colleagues that were supposed to come to work today on duty, they are there and they didn't face any major problem on the way to the hospital so that's, that's good at least from our side.†ROME, ITALY (AUGUST 27, 2021) (REUTERS) CUTAWAY NAPLES, ITALY (AUGUST 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) PRESIDENT OF ITALIAN AID GROUP EMERGENCY, ROSELLA MICCIO, SAYING: “We and the people in Afghanistan weren’t prepared for the withdrawal of troops or military. They were very much surprised and disappointed by the departure also of the civilian personnel, the personnel of the embassies because they felt abandoned and this was a very bad sign that was sent by the western community to the Afghans. And I think that this was also one of the reasons that increased the panic and this rush to the airport because it was like it's now or never. So also people who were not directly targeted, they thought that this was the last opportunity for them to have a future because the world was turning its eyes on the other side. So, we will see, we will stay, of course, we are there since 22 years, so we were there also when the Taliban, the previous Taliban government was there and I think it is important to provide refuge and support and assistance to those who are fleeing the country but at the same time we cannot leave behind unattended over 30 million Afghan people. They deserve our attention, they deserve our care, they deserve our support because it is not going to be easy for them there.†ROME, ITALY (AUGUST 27, 2021) (REUTERS) CUTAWAY
- Embargoed: 10th September 2021 11:22
- Keywords: Afghanistan Italian charity Emergency blast evacuations injured
- Location: NAPLES AND ROME, ITALY
- City: NAPLES AND ROME, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA001ES2370N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The President of the Italian aid group Emergency, which was at the centre of treating injured after multiple blasts in Afghanistan said on Friday (August 27), the medical team in Kabul had worked around the clock to treat Afghan civilians.
Emergency, which has run medical centres across the country for 22 years said they treated 62 patients with 12 dead on arrival after blasts exploded near the airport killing 85 including 13 U.S. soldiers.
“It was very tiring, exhausting," Miccio said speaking virtually from Naples, Italy.
"They finished with the last patient around 4:00 A.M. this morning so the three theatres have been working all night long, basically, but this morning fortunately it was quiet," she said.
Miccio said many people had gathered around the gates of the hospital searching for lost relatives.
The Emergency President said everybody in Kabul was anxious, with no one knowing what to expect next.
"...they are just tired and exhausted because they say they would like to get rid of war finally but they see that the light at the end of the tunnel is still far away," she said.
Many countries have already stopped evacuation flights bringing Afghan citizens out of the country and fears of further panic once the international community appears to have left, are growing.
“We and the people in Afghanistan weren’t prepared for the withdrawal of troops or military," Miccio said.
"They were very much surprised and disappointed by the departure also of the civilian personnel, the personnel of the embassies because they felt abandoned and this was a very bad sign that was sent by the western community to the Afghans," she said.
"I think it is important to provide refuge and support and assistance to those who are fleeing the country but at the same time we cannot leave behind unattended over 30 million Afghan people," Miccio said.
"They deserve our attention, they deserve our care, they deserve our support because it is not going to be easy for them there,†she said.
Emergency has vowed to stay on in Afghanistan to provide as much care for the civilian population as they are able.
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