New lives for Afghans who worked with NATO
A family of 8 Afghan citizens who worked with NATO has just left North Macedonia, where they were temporarily hosted, to resettle in the United States. North Macedonia, together with the local Red Cross, has been providing housing, education and health care for the family, including support during the holy month of Ramadan.
Archive photo of Afghan citizens arriving in Luxembourg on 12 Oct. 2021
Thanks to Allies’ joint efforts, around 2,000 Afghans who worked with NATO during the Alliance’s 20 year engagement in the country, as well as their families, were evacuated from Kabul in August 2021, as part of the largest evacuation mission in NATO's history. NATO worked around the clock to coordinate evacuations, and the former NATO Senior Civilian Representative, Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo and his staff played a key role in this effort. Over the course of two weeks, more than 120,000 people were flown out, on hundreds of Allied flights. Troops from the US, UK, Turkey, and Norway played a key role in securing Kabul airport and operating a field hospital, while around 800 NATO staff maintained key operations such as fuelling and communications.
Over the last year, NATO Allies and partners have continued to work together to help evacuated Afghans start a new life. Over 470 former Afghan employees and their families have resettled in Canada, 150 in the United Kingdom, more than 130 in Germany, 80 in Norway, 31 in Latvia, and several hundred more in other Allied countries and partners.