In the next few days, the Government will evacuate 265 Afghan citizens who collaborated with the Spanish military and aid workers, according to reports by government sources to La Vanguardia. Moncloa is finalizing the evacuation plan for the refugees who are already in Islamabad (Pakistan), from where they will fly to the Torrejón de Ardoz airport (Madrid). The same sources explain that the intention is that the transfers take place this week, which marks one year since the Taliban takeover of Kabul.
It would be the third phase of the Antigone operation with which the Government of Pedro Sánchez undertook "not to leave behind anyone" of the citizens who collaborated with Spain during the two decades of Western presence in Afghanistan. In the first, carried out in August last year – when the Taliban took control of the country – 2,181 people arrived in Spain through 17 flights from Kabul, of which 1,723 had Spain as their final destination. The rest went to other European countries or to the United States. In the second phase of the Operation, 247 refugees landed on two flights from Islamabad. Since October there has been a trickle of arrivals on regular flights for which there is no specific figure. What is known, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior, is that 814 people who came on this type of flight from countries bordering Afghanistan have requested international protection.
The refugees who will arrive in Spain mainly belong to groups of translators who worked with the Spanish army and professionals who participated in Spanish cooperation projects. They are, above all, relatives of them who could not fly when the Kabul airport was plunged into real chaos -in August- or they did not manage to reach Pakistan in October due to economic difficulties to travel and the danger of the route to reach the pass frontier. As confirmed by Afghan families who are already in Spain, their relatives received notice last week to move to Pakistan. There they have been waiting for a few days to take the flight that will bring them to Madrid to be able to enter the reception system.
Ministerial sources explain that the date is not closed, but the intention is that the refugees land in the first half of August. They also warn that the final figure may increase, despite the fact that the border crossing "is proving to be very complicated and dangerous." And it is that Pakistan maintains a tight lock on its border to not let Afghan citizens pass in order to avoid a pull effect that leads to a wave of refugees. Yes, those included in the list prepared by Spain with a commitment can pass: they will not stay in Pakistan, but will be evacuated to Spain as quickly as possible.
Once they arrive in Torrejón de Ardoz – it remains to be seen if they will do so on military flights or chartered by companies such as Air Europa, like one of those in October 2021 – the refugees will be integrated into the reception system to achieve their economic autonomy And social. In the same one that the first refugees that Spain received have been 12 months. According to several testimonies from families collected by this newspaper, the main obstacle they are encountering in adapting to the country has to do with finding a job: many of them have advanced professional levels, but the language is making their search difficult. The itinerary, which is marked by the Ministry of Inclusion, has two phases that last 18 months, with an extension of another six.
