From Politco, August 25:
Make sure you read on for the shocking official U.N. advice to its staff in Kabul — telling them to cooperate with the Taliban and keep a positive attitude when confronted by armed militants.....*****.... FRENCH DO IT DIFFERENTLY: We hear constantly that leaving Afghanistan was going to be a mess no matter which way it was done. While it’s true that both the U.S. and U.N. would have struggled to justify earlier mass evacuations while also expressing confidence in the former government, that doesn’t explain why the U.S. government processed Afghan special interest visas more slowly in 2021 than in recent years, which could have allowed more Afghans to get out on commercial flights while they still operated. The example of the French government demonstrates that there were other ways to evacuate.The French government began evacuating its local Afghan staff on May 10, including cooks, drivers and cleaners. Full story by Jac Follorou in Le Monde. The aim was to have only French staff remaining by July — and indeed a final evacuation flight for non-essential staff took off July 17, when the Taliban already controlled large parts of the country, four weeks before the fall of Kabul.
France has continued to be involved in evacuating Afghans and nationals who refused the government’s advice — but has had spare capacity to, for example, evacuate more than 250 staff from the EU’s mission in Kabul, per Ambassador David Martinon.....
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