EU Must Take In Afghans Under "Immediate Threat", Says Official

European commissioner for home affairs said EU countries "need to avoid a migratory crisis" from Afghanistan.

EU countries must take in Afghans under "immediate threat" after the victory of the Taliban, especially women and girls, the European commissioner for home affairs said on Wednesday. "We should not wait until people are at our external border. We need to help them before that," Ylva Johansson said before taking part in an emergency videolink meeting of EU interior ministers. "And it's important that we also help those in immediate threat to be resettled to EU member states." She and the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell updated the ministers on the situation in Afghanistan, where EU countries are among those frantically evacuating citizens and Afghan staff following the Taliban's sudden return to power.