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Qatar has played a huge role in the U.S. effort to evacuate tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan.
Now, because of Afghanistan’s relationship with Washington and the Taliban in charge of Kabul, it is asked to help shape Afghanistan’s next move.
Qatar will attend a virtual meeting hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken on Monday to discuss coordination methods in the coming days as the U.S. completes its withdrawal from Afghanistan after the Taliban takes over.
The conference will also include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO.
According to reports, the Taliban also asked Qatar to provide civilian technical assistance at Kabul International Airport after the U.S. military withdrawal is completed on Tuesday. The Qatari authorities have not yet commented on these reports.
At the same time, the United Nations international agencies are requesting Qatar’s help and support to provide assistance to Afghanistan.
This role is somewhat unexpected. The country borders Saudi Arabia and shares a huge gas field with Iran in the Gulf region, which should have become a transit point for thousands of people airlifted from Afghanistan within a few months.
Evacuation efforts in Qatar
After the Taliban quickly took over Kabul on August 15, the United States counted on Qatar to help evacuate tens of thousands of people by air in a chaotic and rush.
In the end, nearly 40% of the evacuees moved out through Qatar. International media also asked Qatar to help them evacuate staff.
The United States said on Saturday that 113,500 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since August 14. Qatar stated that more than 43,000 people transited through Afghanistan.
Qatar’s role in the evacuation reflects its status as the host country of the largest US military base in the Middle East, and it also reflects its decision to host the Taliban’s exiled political leaders many years ago-the Taliban office in Doha is Opened in 2013 “At the request of the U.S. government”-to have a certain influence on armed groups
Lolwa al-Khater, Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister, acknowledged the political results that Qatar has achieved in the past few weeks, but denied that Qatar’s efforts are purely strategic.
“If someone thinks this is just for political gain, believe me, there are some ways to do public relations that are much easier than letting our people take risks on the ground. It is much easier than we can sleep through the night in the past two weeks, and it’s not that complicated. It’s not about taking time to take care of every child and every pregnant woman,” she told the Associated Press.
For some of the most sensitive rescue operations in Afghanistan, Qatar carried out the operation with only a few hundred soldiers and its own military aircraft.
Qatar evacuated a girls’ boarding school, an all-girl robotics team, and journalists working for international media.
‘Unique location’
The ambassador of Qatar accompanied the bus convoy through the Taliban checkpoint in Kabul and through multiple Western military checkpoints at the airport, where large crowds gathered eagerly to escape.
Al-Khater said that Qatar has secured a total of about 3,000 people access to the airport and has airlifted up to 1,500 people after receiving requests from international organizations and reviewing their names.
She said Qatar has a unique position because it can talk to local parties and is willing to escort people through Kabul, which is controlled by the Taliban.
“What many people don’t realize is that this trip is not a call to the Taliban,” she said. “The U.S., the U.K., NATO, and Turkey have checkpoints… We have to deal with all these variables and factors.”
The Taliban have promised to amnesty all those who remain in Afghanistan. Despite this, many people who are eager to get out-including civil society activists, people who have worked for the Western military, and women who are afraid of losing their hard-won rights-say they don’t trust armed groups.
In addition, other armed groups such as the ISIL affiliate ISKP also pose a growing threat.
Last week, ISKP suicide bombers launched an attack outside the Kabul airport, killing more than 170 people.
The evacuation process led by the United States was damaged by misjudgment and chaos and spread to the Udeid base in Qatar.
Al Udeid’s hangar was so crowded that the United States suspended flights from Kabul for several hours during the peak evacuation period on August 20.
Nearby countries, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, accepted thousands of evacuees to ease the pressure on the base.
In Udeid, Afghan families evacuated by the United States waited for hours in a poorly ventilated, damp, and insufficiently cooled hangar in the middle of the desert.
Photos and video clips Share with Al Jazeera It showed hundreds of Afghans crowded in unsanitary conditions in the hangar of the US Air Force Base in Qatar.
Qatar built an emergency field hospital, additional shelters and portable toilets to help fill the gap.
‘Bold leadership’
In addition to the things distributed by the U.S. military, the Qatar military distributes 50,000 meals a day, and more food comes from local charities.
Qatar Airways provided 10 aircraft to transport evacuees from Doha to other countries.
A panoramic view of a residential area in Doha, Qatar, where hundreds of people evacuated from Afghanistan were temporarily housed [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]Approximately 20,000 evacuees remain in Qatar. Some of them are expected to leave within a few weeks, while others will leave in a few months, waiting to be resettled elsewhere. Since arriving in Qatar, seven Afghan women have delivered babies.
Only a few evacuees will remain in Qatar, and a group of female students will receive scholarships to continue their education in Doha. It is hosting some evacuees in a furnished apartment facility built for the FIFA World Cup to be held in Doha next year.
U.S. Congressmen write directly to #QatarThe Emir thanked him for his multiplier role in Qatar #Afghanistan:
“The United States will never forget that the Americans and our partners crossed the streets of Kabul under the safe escort of the Qatar ambassador.” pic.twitter.com/r3scsYjjif-Dr. Andreas Krieg (@andreas_krieg) August 28, 2021
This energy-rich country is a small country with more than 300,000 citizens, and the number of foreign workers holding temporary visas far exceeds the local population.
The White House stated that President Joe Biden personally expressed his gratitude to Qatar’s 41-year-old Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani over the phone, and pointed out that without Qatar’s support, thousands of people would be transferred every day. It is impossible to realize air transport led by the United States. .
Four U.S. congressmen thanked the Gulf countries in a joint letter.
“The United States will never forget that the Americans and our partners crossed the streets of Kabul under the safe escort of the Qatar ambassador. We will not soon forget that the Qatari government is willing to quickly provide assistance to the vulnerable Afghans in Afghanistan who are fighting side by side with our two countries. “Read this letter, the copy is shared On social media.
“The moment of crisis reveals true friends and lays the foundation for a deeper partnership. We believe that when we face this challenge together, the partnership between Qatar and the United States will gain greater strength,” it said.
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