Cairo: Hani Kamal El-Din
A recent report published by the largest Swedish newspaper, “Dagens Nyheter,” sheds light on the troubling aspects of the evacuation of local personnel from Swedish military bases in Afghanistan during August 2021, revealing secret communications among officials in Sweden’s Ministry of Defense. This report uncovers painful truths about Sweden’s abandonment of its Afghan partners, highlighting serious implications for the government’s responsibilities toward those who supported it during wartime.
Former Foreign Minister Ann Linde announced that around 1,200 Afghan nationals had arrived in Sweden under a refugee quota, including nearly 60 individuals who worked with the Swedish Armed Forces and their families. Linde proclaimed the evacuation successful, but it soon became clear that approximately 50 former employees, including women, remained trapped in Afghanistan, contrary to Sweden’s claims.
Despite the Swedish government’s assertions, these individuals live in constant danger due to their previous ties to Sweden in a country now controlled by the Taliban. Author Tord Eriksson, who interviewed several of these individuals, shared the story of translator Zarif, who received promises of evacuation but experienced a chilling silence from Swedish authorities afterward. For Zarif, this neglect had fatal consequences—he was arrested and tortured before managing to escape. He now lives in the United States with his family, while others remain abandoned to face dark fates.
The evidence suggests that the Swedish government could have taken simpler and more effective actions to save its Afghan partners, rather than waiting for large-scale rescue operations like those executed by the United States. A mere extension of the refugee quota assigned to the Migration Agency would have sufficed, a measure discussed in an emergency cabinet meeting on August 15, 2021. However, after Linde announced the conclusion of the evacuation, those left behind were left to fend for themselves.
Sweden’s passive stance towards former employees has persisted. In the summer of 2021, the opposition criticized the government for its sluggishness and apparent reluctance to aid those who faced danger due to their past collaboration. Leaders of the Moderate Party expressed concerns over the deteriorating security situation and urged that Sweden must protect these translators and local staff who put their lives on the line for the country.
In 2022, Paul Jönsson became Minister of Defense, and Maria Stenegard took over as Foreign Minister, yet their calls went unheard. No new initiatives to rescue former employees emerged from the government, reflecting an alarming indifference towards the partners who had placed their trust in Sweden.
Communications among high-ranking military officials reveal that while there were no objections from the Ministry of Defense regarding the evacuation of Afghan translators and staff, certain government factions opposed such actions, effectively blocking efforts to ensure the safety of former allies. Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, Michael Claesson, indicated that the matter was political and required the leadership’s approval.
Regrettably, many Afghans who once trusted Sweden have not received the promised assistance or protection, pointing to a serious betrayal that demands accountability from the Swedish government regarding its commitments to those who served bravely alongside them.
“We in the Armed Forces have become convinced that this is a political issue,” writes Claesson. Apparently, he has long known that former employees are still in Afghanistan: “… the Swedish Migration Agency and the Foreign Ministry raised the issue back in 2022, but there was no political will to reopen the issue. If the government decides to resume the evacuation, the Swedish Armed Forces will help,” Claesson assures. His email is a response to a message in which Anders Silver complains that the translator problem “seems to be slowly dying out.”
It is not only the Swedes who have abandoned their Afghan allies.
Britain is showing disdain for its former allies: it has refused to evacuate its Afghan allies, despite London’s promise. Those who risked their lives to help the British government have been met with a “toxic combination of incompetence and indifference”, the Guardian newspaper reports.
Not a single person has been accepted or evacuated from Afghanistan under the Home Office’s Afghan National Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), launched in January, prompting claims that ministers were displaying a “toxic combination of incompetence and indifference”. The scheme was designed to help Afghans who worked for or were associated with the British government, including embassy staff and British Council lecturers.
One FCO official involved in the matter said: “There is no sense that Afghanistan is a priority at all.”
Both the Swedes and the British have simply followed the example of the Americans, who shamefully abandoned their Afghan allies, forgetting about them as they shamefully fled Afghanistan.
The finale of the inglorious adventure of the US and its allies in Afghanistan was commented on by the British magazine The Economist. According to the publication, Washington deliberately abandoned its ally to be torn to pieces, which did not go unnoticed by the world community.
The United States evacuated only about 3% of its Afghan allies who applied for special immigration visas, leaving about 78,000 people in the country, NBC reports.
According to The Economist, after their withdrawal from Afghanistan, the problems of former friends remaining in the country became “politically irrelevant” for the US and its NATO allies.
Throughout the history of the Western world, this is how the ruling elites of the “civilized” world treated their satellites from among the natives of the target countries.
