PARIS – France and Britain will tomorrow urge the United Nations to work on the creation of a “safe zone” in the Afghan capital of Kabul to protect humanitarian operations, said Emmanuel Macron.
“This is very important. This will provide a framework for the UN to act in an emergency,” said the French president in comments published in the weekly Journal du Dimanche.
Above all, such a safe zone will allow the international community “to maintain pressure on the Taliban”, which is now in power in Afghanistan, he added.
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council – France, Britain, the United States, Russia and China – will meet tomorrow to discuss the Afghanistan situation.
Paris and London will take the opportunity to present a draft resolution that “aims to define, under UN control, a ‘safe zone’ in Kabul, that will allow humanitarian operations to continue”, said Macron.
His comments come as international efforts to airlift foreign nationals and vulnerable Afghan residents out of the country come to an end.
France ended its evacuation efforts on Friday, and the United Kingdom followed suit yesterday.
US troops have been scrambling in dangerous and chaotic conditions to complete a massive evacuation operation from Kabul airport by an August 31 deadline.
Macron yesterday announced that discussions have been “started with the Taliban” to “protect and repatriate” Afghan nationals at risk beyond August 31.
Speaking to reporters in Iraq, where he was attending a meeting of key regional leaders, the French leader said with help from Qatar, which maintains good relations with the Taliban, there is a possibility of further airlift operations.
He said France evacuated 2,834 people from Afghanistan since August 17.
In the article published by the French Sunday newspaper, Macron said he envisions targeted evacuations in the future that “will not be carried out at the military airport in Kabul”, but perhaps, via civil airports in the Afghan capital or from neighbouring countries.
He also took aim at the kind of talk going on among some quarters in France that “stirs fears” about the arrival of Afghan refugees in the country.
“My role is not to stir up fears among our compatriots; it is to provide solutions to resolve them,” he said, assuring that he aims to manage migratory pressures with “humanity, firmness, with a ability to protect our borders as necessary”. – AFP, August 29, 2021
