Return to Afghanistan after three years: Switzerland opens an outpost in Taliban country

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The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA) expressly advises against traveling to Afghanistan. According to the federal government website, there is a risk of battles, terrorist attacks, rocket attacks, armed robberies, kidnappings and rapes. The country in the Hindu Kush ranks last in the Global Peace Index.

Despite this – or precisely because of it – the Confederation is withdrawn to the crisis region. Members of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Corps (SHA) will soon fly to Afghanistan to set up an outpost there. Léa Zürcher, media spokesperson at the FDFA, confirms a corresponding Blick study: “Switzerland plans to regain a permanent presence in Kabul with a humanitarian office in the summer of 2024.”

43 million people live in Afghanistan, more than half of whom depend on humanitarian aid. Given the precarious economic situation and serious human rights situation, Switzerland will primarily focus on the humanitarian needs of the suffering population, Zürcher said.

“The last one climbed over the wall”

In the summer of 2021, the US and its allies withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban completed their retake of the country. The Swiss cooperative office in the middle of the capital Kabul was also busy: employees burned parts of the archive and switched off the servers. Walburga Roos, who recently took over the management of the office, tells the Observer: “We have cleared away the last things, turned off the water and electricity and left the site. The latter climbed over the wall to leave the building, which was locked from the inside.

Three years after the dramatic evacuation, Switzerland is now returning to the war-torn country. Preparations for this have been going on since February 2022. It became concrete last autumn: in September the FDFA carried out a fact-finding mission and took stock of the former Swiss cooperation agency. A second mission followed in November.

The new office will be built on the old location. The complex is located in the middle of Kabul, where before the Taliban came to power there was a ‘Green Zone’ with heavily guarded Western embassies and bases. When a car bomb exploded at the German embassy in 2017, killing 150 people, the Swiss office was also damaged. According to an EDA report, this was the “most vulnerable location” of the Swiss external network at the time.

No support for the Taliban

The security situation remains complex, says EDA spokeswoman Zürcher. “The massive restrictions on the human rights of women and girls and the persecution of minorities and people critical of the Taliban or members of the previous government create a climate of insecurity and fear.” Employee safety has the highest priority; As before, it will be guaranteed by a private foreign company.

The Taliban have taken note of Switzerland’s decision, Zürcher said. However, the processes are complicated: the Bern embassy in neighboring Pakistan announces in diplomatic notes Swiss visits to the Afghan representation there and requests meetings at the technical level. “Contacts with the Taliban must be limited to necessary diplomatic and logistical processes in order to be humanitarian on the ground,” Zürcher said. The Islamists would not be supported in any way.

Support for the ICRC or the World Food Program

This year a budget of 24 million francs has been allocated for Afghanistan. Switzerland uses these funds to support various partner organizations in the humanitarian sector. This includes the UN World Food Program and the World Bank, which provides basic health care. The ICRC, whose staff visit Afghan prisons, and an Afghan non-governmental organization that aims to train women in counseling victims of domestic violence, are also supported. According to the EDA, no development programs are planned. The Kabul office will also not provide consular services, the EDA spokeswoman said: “Afghans can continue to submit visa applications at the Swiss Embassy in Islamabad.”

Switzerland has been generally granting asylum to Afghan women and girls since the summer. The decision of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) sparked criticism from right-wing parties. The state political committees of both councils will discuss the issue in January and February. Sibel Arslan (43, Green), Vice-Chairman of the National Council’s Foreign Policy Committee, welcomed the decision to return to Kabul: “The human rights situation in Afghanistan, especially for women and children, is precarious. It is therefore good and important that Switzerland is again locally represented with an office.” This means you are no longer solely dependent on information from third parties. And: “Anyone who criticizes the ever-increasing number of refugees should actually support the humanitarian work that the FDFA is doing in Afghanistan.”

Source:Blick