KATHMANDU, AUGUST 15
The International Relations Committee under the House of Representatives has instructed the government to use all diplomatic means for immediate and safe rescue of all Nepalis in Afghanistan.
Stating that the Nepali citizens could be left in the lurch while the Taliban insurgents were trying to take over Afghanistan's capital Kabul and incidents of violence were occurring in one of the SAARC member states.
The committee has instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to airlift Nepalis in Afghanistan at the earliest.
Secretary at the MoFA Bharatraj Poudyal said that they had been observing the incidents in Afghanistan for some time now and the ministry was seriously working towards bringing back Nepalis stranded there.
Poudyal said, "The condition of Afghanistan was turning from bad to worse. The government is concerned about the security of Nepalis there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking the issue into serious consideration and coordinating efforts with the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi in India to rescue Nepalis there."
The ministry estimates there are over 1,500 Nepalis working in Afghanistan with labour permits.
As there were skilled and qualified Nepali workers in various foreign assistance projects and international agencies, Poudyal refuted rumours doing the rounds in the media about the staggering number of Nepalis in Afghanistan working illegally.
Committee President Pabitra Kharel said the government should rescue Nepalis in Afghanistan at any cost. The parliamentarians in the committee's meeting here today drew the attention of officials in the MoFA to establish contacts with Nepalis in Afghanistan and through social networking sites to make sure they were not left in the lurch.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 16 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
