Over the weekend, Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed Australia had resettled around 400 locally-engaged Afghan employees and their families since April. But with a military evacuation flight belatedly set to land in Kabul today, hours after the Taliban took control of the country’s capital, there are hundreds of others who are waiting for the Australian government to give them clarity about their future.
The local staff
Australia’s slow, opaque process for offering visas to Afghans prioritises Locally-Engaged Employees (LEEs) for a fast-track visa. But there are hundreds of people who are waiting for their applications to be approved, some who have been in limbo for years.
Afghanistan veteran and military lawyer Glenn Kolomeitz, who represents Afghan LEEs, says he is in touch with 196 interpreters, 50 guards, and two journalists who have applied for a visa and haven’t heard back. Of that group, just 12 guards had the first step of the visa approved.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade then advised them to submit paperwork for the second step, Kolomeitz said, but offered them no guidance about how to do this, given the embassy in Kabul has been closed since May.
Those are just the people Kolomeitz knows of in Kabul. There could be several more in provinces like Uruzgan who haven’t been able to get legal help in Australia.
As Crikey has reported, there’s an arbitrariness to the LEE visa, and some Afghans who had long work histories with the ADF waited up to seven years to get approved.
The contractors
The Morrison government has hinted throughout the last few months that Afghans who were employed as contractors on ADF projects are ineligible for fast-track LEE visas, but could apply for regular refugee visas. It’s a distinction that former Prime Minister John Howard criticised as “narrow legalism.”
There are no solid figures on how many contractors worked with Australia, or have applied for a visa, but Kolomeitz estimates it would be a few hundred on top of the people already waiting for a LEE visa.
The UN workers
Former United Nations officials told Crikey Afghans who worked with international organisations should be offered the same protection from Western governments as interpreters. Countries like the United States and Canada are expanding their evacuation missions to include people in these groups. Margie Cook, a former UN Chief Electoral Adviser in Afghanistan estimated there could be thousands in this situation, who could be repatriated to different countries. So far, they haven’t included in Australia’s evacuation plans.
Australia no longer does moral.
Lazy Scott is hoping they’re killed, to avoid making a decision, and avoid upsetting the racists.
The LNP does nothing that it judges is not singularly in the self interest of the two parties and/or their members and financial supporters. From the national perspective this rarely coincides with our country’s best interests. But hey, what does that matter, it is the unfettered access to the public purse and the guarantee of absolutely no judicial oversight of potential rorts and fraudulent activities that draws the flies to the carcass of our democracy.
Mission achieved in Afghanistan. Our Embassy is closed, our military forces withdrawn in the face of defeat and the Taliban mysteriously re-appears throughout their nation out of a vacant intelligence ether – apparently, as it now transpires, because they never left, let alone were visible, defeated or discouraged. The theme running through this shambles – “our” quickly routed and hastily departed Afghan Government was as corrupt and ineffectual as “our” current, stubbornly immobile Australian Government remains.
In that tradition of retreating off the beaches in the dead of night our Government now belatedly says it has finally, at the 25th hour, worked out how to extract (some, all?) of those Afghans who personally assisted our Embassy and the ADF. To keep the exit rout clear the Australian Government thoughtfully ensured that the prior retreat of our personnel did not impede the supposed departure route through Kabul Airport being temporarily kept open through the military intervention of the UK and the USA.
Despite the parochial and predictable denials from Washington this is the second occasion, in my lifetime, that Australia’s participation in the military and civilian backing of an utterly corrupt foreign government to our north has ended in disaster for the local populations and Australia’s foreign relations and intelligence credibility, not to mention the deaths and the mental and physical damage suffered by our returned ADF members.
I suspect our Government will continue to invest far more effort and treasure in examining the entrails of US and UK politics than in the understanding of and engagement with countries to our north. As an example, I have not observed a predisposition or enthusiasm to place our retired, or electorally defeated, elder political statesmen or women to lead Embassies to centers of power, influence or threat in our region – either from our Government or prospective political appointees. Washington and London ambassadorial rank payoffs for political affiliation or loyalty appear to have been the most used and attractive option for all parties, ignoring the lesser order national trade and security interests of our country. The revolving door of UK landed gentry through the doors of Government Houses around our nation has mercifully ceased – however, we are yet to wean ourselves off maintaining such obsequious traditions by tipping our hat to our colonial and post World War 2 masters and the members of our domestic political clique.
Our corrupt govt can distinguish between LEE’s and contractors but the Taliban wont. In fact they will be resolving Morrisons dilemma as I type. Obviously he has to bung on a display of concern for the press conference but few Hail Marys on sunday will make him feel better. On the plus side all those refugees would have cost a lot of money. Money that can now be freed up to give to some lucky billionaire
The different treatment of those working directly for Australia, as opposed to those contracted to a company that was paid to work for Australia. You can clearly see the difference, can’t you?
If you can, please explain to me how we somehow escape moral culpability for those contractors.
If Canada can take in 20,000, we can do the same.
Under Dutton and Morrison they don’t stand a chance.