Sweden reviews Afghan former staff for possible protection after 12 years
Sweden has ordered the Armed Forces to identify Afghan citizens who worked for the Swedish military before 2014 and may need protection, reopening a question left unresolved after earlier evacuations.
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The mapping must establish who remains and whose safety is at risk by 9 October, according to TV4’s report. TV4 says roughly 50 former local employees, plus family members, remain in Afghanistan.
The order is a review, not a decision to bring anyone to Sweden. Asked whether more former staff would be admitted, Defence Minister Pål Jonson said, in translation, that the Government “is continuing its work on this.”
Jonson said conditions have deteriorated since the Taliban took power and helping threatened people has become harder because Sweden has no personnel on the ground and cannot cooperate with local authorities.
Sweden evacuated about 60 former local employees and their families in 2021, TV4 reported. A Riksdag review later found that the Government Offices could have involved the Migration Agency earlier and criticised ministers’ public account of the constitutional conditions and potential scale.
The new mapping creates no protection route on its own. It gives the Armed Forces until 9 October to identify the group and report needs; any relocation or admission decision would require a further Government step.
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