Removing people from a disaster

zone is not a simple process.

I had an email this morning. It came from someone I know who regularly criticises the efforts of governments in this country and elsewhere. This person complains constantly about how the government here and governments elsewhere "don't care about refugees" and much more.

I have tried to explain to this person and to others that the things they think are simple are not simple. They can be very complex indeed. You cannot "simply send a plane in and get them" - the preferred solution of the person who is making such a fuss.

Yes, right now we do have a very big problem on our hands. This country is pulling out our support for the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban are going to take over again. They will go back to the appalling practices of the past. They will seek out anyone who worked with the foreign forces there and they will murder them. 

And yes, we owe those people who worked with our forces and our aid organisations a "duty of care". The government is well aware of that and there are people working over time to try and do something about it. 

But it is not a simple process of someone saying, "I worked with the foreign forces or a foreign aid organisation please give me a visa to come and live in your country."  There are issues of proof of identity and there are character checks to  be made - not just about the individual claiming to be endangered but their families.

Checks need to be made because the Taliban would be more than happy to send some of their own to cause similar mayhem here. They would be more than happy to send a few suicide bombers into our midst. It's the way they work. One member of a family might have been willing to work with the foreigners but that does not mean that other family members were willing. Others might feel quite differently and there is a need to be as certain as possible that they cannot do more harm. 

There are other issues of international law too. There is a need for paper work that most people have no idea about. It is why most people will do the very best they can to preserve their proof of identity and get it out of the country they are fleeing in any way they can. 

All this is why what the news media calls a "disaster" is what is more correctly called a "complex humanitarian emergency" or CHE. It is just that - complex, very complex indeed.  There are plenty of other CHEs at the present time and they have multiple causes, not only Covid19 but war and famine and more. Afghanistan is just one area with multiple problems.  There is no CHE which can be solved quickly or easily. We can't just spend a lot of money and send people in or get people out. There is  nothing simple about any of this.

Yes, we owe people in need of help a duty of care and - believe it or not - the present government is trying to do what it can.

The Taliban see nothing wrong with this. They believe they are doing what is right.