International employers accused of abandoning Afghan staff

Many international NGOs are accused of abandoning their staff as thousands of Afghans try to flee.

Zarina* sits in her temporary Kabul shelter and her thoughts wander to the days when she still had a chance to escape the Taliban rule. She should now be in Germany, in safety that her last employer GIZ – state-funded development agency German Corporation for International Cooperation – promised her in her contract. But 12 days after the fall of Kabul, Zarina’s hopes for evacuation to Germany are fading. “German soldiers going to the airport refuse to pick up GIZ’s local staff. They only take those with German passports or visas. And our organisation did not process any visas for us,” says Zarina in a calm voice full of disillusionment.