Providing protection to Afghans at risk to be discussed

The EU is convening a High-Level Forum focusing on providing protection to Afghans at risk.

Participants will discuss the current situation in Afghanistan and in neighbouring countries as well as options for mobilising further support for Afghans at risk. They will also discuss planning for further safe and legal pathways for Afghan nationals considered most at risk in both the short and medium term, as well as reception and integration measures for Afghan evacuees.

High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell said: “The takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban will have far-reaching repercussions for the Afghan people and the country’s neighbours. This requires urgent responses and our full engagement. We have rapidly increased EU humanitarian aid and supported the departure of Afghans at risk in the country. Our work is not over. We stand by the Afghan people. The forum gives us another opportunity to come up with concrete actions to protect Afghans at risk, including through safe and legal pathways.”

The forum will bring together, in a virtual setting on October 7, Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Interior Ministers of EU Member States as well as from Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, representatives of the European Parliament, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, and the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, António Vitorino. In the afternoon, discussions will continue at senior officials’ level with representatives of Canada, the UK and the US.

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