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Lithuania will relocate a total of 176 people during the 10-day operation, National Defense Minister Arvydas Anušauskas announced on Thursday.
According to him, 34 families with 82 children will be relocated.
“This is the first and only operation of its kind in which Lithuanian soldiers evacuated civilians from the crisis zone,” Brigadier General Mindaugas Steponavičius, Chief of the Defense General Staff, said during a press conference.
According to A. Anušauskas, the Afghan arrival operation lasted ten days: five days were planned, five – the transportation process.
The Minister stated that ten Lithuanian soldiers and a diplomat knew during the trip to Kabul that 24 translators would have to be airlifted with their families, a total of 113 people. However, it turned out that there were many more people.
“Ten families contributed because people were communicating with each other, we didn’t all have them on our pre-checked lists. That work was done on site. As part of the group, we also send representatives of military intelligence to see, inspect and, if necessary, make decisions on the spot, ”said A. Anušauskas.
According to him, all the translators had proof that they had worked with Lithuanian soldiers.
“To everyone’s surprise, they had documents that they had received from our government, the soldiers, especially in Ghowr province, had the award sheets, the awards themselves, they had gratitude on which to base their applications,” said the minister.
In addition, according to him, the Ministry of National Defense also has documents that certify the previous work of specific people.
A. Anušauskas emphasized that the lives of all these people were in danger after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan.
Most of the interpreters had come to Kabul with their families, and some had been contacted and agreed where to pick them up.
“It just came to our knowledge then. Despite the agreement that the Taliban will not interfere, there were tensions,” said A. Anušauskas.
Ten Lithuanian soldiers and a representative from the Foreign Ministry, who helped evacuate the families of the interpreters, are scheduled to leave Afghanistan on Thursday. They are now at the Kabul airport.
One hundred and a half Afghans have already flown to Lithuania. They are temporarily housed in the Raseiniai district municipality. The government plans to allocate 600 thousand. euros.
Last week, an Afghan and members of his family, who worked as drivers at the European Union Representation in Kabul, flew to Lithuania.
A. Anušauskas stated that Germany, Poland, Denmark, Ukraine helped to carry out the procedure of bringing in Afghans, talks were discussed with Sweden and France about aid. According to him, the situation has often changed.
“We are left with the support provided by Poland, because logistically it was the most convenient (…) The Polish support was agreed at the highest level, it was agreed by the presidents in Kiev,” said the Minister of National Defense.
In Lithuania, Afghans will initially be quarantined and then migration procedures for asylum will begin.
“A person who has been granted the status of political refugee is a free person. If he integrates into our society, the Ministry of Social Security and Labor has adequate programs for integration,” said A. Anušauskas.
Lithuania has been carrying out the mission in Afghanistan for almost 20 years: from 2002 to 2021, it served some 5,000 troops, participated in the US-led Operation Peaceful Peace, and carried out two major NATO operations: the Force International Security Assistance (2002-2014). ) and Strong support (2015-2021).
Control of Afghanistan in mid-August, with the departure of the last US troops, was taken over by the Taliban, who occupied the capital, Kabul. Since then, getting out of Afghanistan has become difficult.
