Rescue of Nepalis depends on registration of details: MoFA Joint Secy

More Nepalis are being rescued and evacauted from Afghanistan to Nepal since the Taliban took over the country, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The rescue operation has been taking place on the basis of the registration of the details of Nepalis on the web portal of the Department of Consular Services. Most of the registrations for rescue are being made either by those in Afghanistan or their family members in Nepal, Harish Chandra Ghimire, joint secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) told NepalNews. Apart from that, the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi and other sources have also been registering the details, he said. The government has been working on repatriation in coordination with a taskforce formed to rescue them from Afghanistan. 

Nepal does not have a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan. However, thousands of Nepalis work as security guards in various diplomatic districts of the country.

"The number of Nepalis working as security staff with embassies and international aid groups in Afghanistan had been estimated at 1,500. However, there is no exact data on others who have informally entered the country in foreign employment." Joint Secretary Ghimire said and added, "This is the challenge we have been facing and nothing can be said as of now. However, the rescue process is ongoing."

"As the rescue and evacuation of Nepalis are being carried out on the basis of registration of details, we appeal to all to fill in the online registration form or contact the Department of Consular services," Ghimire said. 

The MoFA joint secretary said that Nepalis working informally there in Afghanistan are the ones who have been registering their details through the online form for their rescue.

A total of 361 Nepalis registered their details for the rescue as of 5:00 pm, Monday, August 23, the statement issued by the MoFA stated. The Department of Consular Services has been receiving the details being registered by those stranded in Afghanistan or their family members, Ghimire said.

A total of 654 Nepalis were rescued from Afghanistan till Sunday night. Thirty-nine Nepalis arrived in the country via the flight of Fly Dubai while seven others arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport via Turkish Air aircraft recently.

The returnees from Afghanistan have been placed at a holding centre in Samakhushi, Kathmandu that has been arranged by the government in coordination with the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC).

The online registration portal has been set up on the website of the (DoCS) at https://mofa.gov.np/registration/ to collect the details of Nepali nationals in Afghanistan for rescue purposes. The concerned person or the family members are requested to register the details including their name in the portal immediately.

The Nepali migrant workers in Afghanistan or their family members in Nepal can contact the mobile numbers including Viber and WhatsApp facility + 977-9749326458 (DoCS) and + 977-9749326459 (MoFA) to inform the condition and for the rescue operation.

A Travel Advisory has also been issued by the Nepali Mission in New Delhi on the latest developments and current situation in Afghanistan.

For necessary assistance, the Embassy of Nepal, New Delhi can be contacted through the following phone numbers and emails:

Embassy of Nepal, New Delhi

Hotline: +918929601925 (also WhatsApp active)

Email: eondelhi@mofa.gov.np

consularnepaliembassy@gmail.com

Earlier, Ghimire had said that the government has been constantly keeping an eye on the situation in the country where the Taliban have seized the power. The current situation in Afghanistan was such the civilian aircraft could not be operated for the repatriation flights.

Meanwhile, the US military pulled off its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan by far on Monday, but deadly violence that has blocked many desperate evacuees from entering Kabul’s airport persisted, and the Taliban signalled they might soon seek to shut down the airlifts.

As many as 28 US military flights ferried about 10,400 people to safety out of Taliban-held Afghanistan over 24 hours that ended early Monday morning, and 15 C-17 flights over the next 12 hours brought out another 6,660, according to White House officials.

After more than a week of evacuations plagued by major obstacles, including Taliban forces and crushing crowds that are making approaching the airport difficult and dangerous, the number of people flying out met — and exceeded — US projections for the first time. The count was more than twice the 3,900 flown out in the previous 24 hours on US military planes.

More than 200 planes are involved, including aerial refuelling planes, and that arriving planes are spending less than an hour on the tarmac at Kabul before loading and taking off. He said the nonstop mission is taking a toll on aircrews.