Today, as the tragic events in Afghanistan put us in danger of a large-scale humanitarian crisis, Georgia stands by its partners and is actively involved in managing humanitarian and evacuation processes. Georgian leaders have condemned the terrorist attack in Kabul and reassured Georgia’s commitment to the humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan.
As a reliable partner, Georgia is actively engaged in the evacuation process of civilians and personnel of international organizations from Afghanistan.
Military cargo planes of the NATO Military Cargo Transportation Organization are currently stationed at Tbilisi airport and perform daily flights to Kabul. Evacuated people are flown from Kabul to Tbilisi airport via various charter flights (up to 2000 passengers have been transported so far under the evacuation initiative). A Regional Transit Hub has been set up at the Tbilisi International Airport and at the military base station of Georgian Defense Forces near the airport, with the engagement of Norwegian, Swedish counterparts, and other member states of NATO. Also, the Norwegian Armed Forces set up a Transit Healthcare Unit on the territory of the military base station, which can be used during the evacuation of a Norwegian Military Hospital of Kabul, if necessary.
As various international organizations and partner countries are carrying out emergency humanitarian evacuations of their staff and families from Afghanistan, Georgia decided to honor the application of several international organizations, namely the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute (IRI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). Hence, Georgia will be assisting these organizations via evacuating their staff for temporary placement in Georgia.
Safety regulations against COVID-19 are observed when admitting and accommodating them in Georgia, while the costs related to their stay in the country are reimbursed by the relevant international institutions.
Georgia’s peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan
Georgia has been actively participating in the international mission of NATO in Afghanistan for years. Armed forces of our country were deployed first in the ISAF operation and later in the RSM mission. For the past ten years, Georgia has been one of the most significant contributors to the NATO RSM mission in Afghanistan, carrying out the most demanding military mission in the hotspots of Afghanistan. By engaging in these operations, Georgia, as a future member of the alliance, has demonstrated its ability to carry the responsibility of collective defense and support global security.
Georgia also played an important role in the completion of the NATO operation in Afghanistan, as the withdrawal of armed forces of NATO member states from Afghanistan took place through the territory of Georgia.