Case
Evacuation at-risk people from Afghanistan
Overview
In August of 2021, hopes crumbled for the free people of Afghanistan as the Taliban began a swift takeover of the nation’s provinces and its central government. As the Taliban began installing their powerbase and releasing prisoners from Pul-e-Charkhi Prison, citizens began to panic in fear for their lives as soldiers began hunting for targeted citizens who had assisted Western allies during the previous 20 years.
WMR immediately undertook an intensive operation in Afghanistan to evacuate 3000-5,000 Christians from the country. In partnership with The Nazarene Fund, Mercury One, Wallbuilders, the Mighty Oak Foundation and others, our diverse team was able to secure agreements with Kamair to begin evacuations.
Our evacuation operations focused on Christians who were at great risk of persecution and death by the Taliban. We vetted potential evacuees with our Christian partners on the ground in Afghanistan as well as through screening through the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, and we manifested thousands of people.
WMR immediately undertook an intensive operation in Afghanistan to evacuate 3000-5,000 Christians from the country. In partnership with The Nazarene Fund, Mercury One, Wallbuilders, the Mighty Oak Foundation and others, our diverse team was able to secure agreements with Kamair to begin evacuations.
Our evacuation operations focused on Christians who were at great risk of persecution and death by the Taliban. We vetted potential evacuees with our Christian partners on the ground in Afghanistan as well as through screening through the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, and we manifested thousands of people.
Challenge
Boarding procedures for the aircraft took many considerations. Passengers were only allowed to take one small bag of personal effects with them. Many children were forced to sit on the laps of their parents, and we were able to fit more passengers than seats on many aircraft. We were able to do this because of the decreased the heavy load of luggage that passengers normally bring on international flights, and there are more oxygen masks available in case of emergency than there are seats. Thus, our teams were able to fit approximately 370 passengers on a Kamair Airbus 340.
Conditions outside the Kabul airport became more and more dangerous as people wishing to escape surrounded gates into the Kabul airport, and Taliban soldiers began harassing those trying to get out of the country. On August 26, a blast ripped through the crowds of Afghans flocking to the airport killing at least 183 people including 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops. The Islamic State - Khorasan Province (IS-KP) claimed responsibility for the attack.
We immediately shifted our evacuation operations to Mazar-il-Sharif and continued flying aircraft to “lilypad” countries that could afford temporary protection for the evacuees
Conditions outside the Kabul airport became more and more dangerous as people wishing to escape surrounded gates into the Kabul airport, and Taliban soldiers began harassing those trying to get out of the country. On August 26, a blast ripped through the crowds of Afghans flocking to the airport killing at least 183 people including 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops. The Islamic State - Khorasan Province (IS-KP) claimed responsibility for the attack.
We immediately shifted our evacuation operations to Mazar-il-Sharif and continued flying aircraft to “lilypad” countries that could afford temporary protection for the evacuees
Evacuation
Our team evacuated the Afghan FIFA girls’ soccer team to Portugal in an unprecedented flight across two continents. Under Taliban rule, senior officials publicly stated that women were not allowed to play sports because it was “unnecessary” and their bodies might be exposed. Lisbon immediately granted asylum to the girls. As of the writing of this report, our team is also actively planning the evacuation flights of female Afghan judges and their families.
These operations to evacuate at-risk people from Afghanistan were not only hampered by the Taliban and IS-KP, but also by official U.S. agencies attempting to reportedly save face because of an administration-wide failure to provide an evacuation plan.
The U.S. State Department quickly began negotiations with allied nations hoping to block flights of evacuees chartered by private organizations such as The Nazarene Fund. Although we had provided 2 of 28 manifests to the State Department and gained their approval before each flight, they issued a press release telling the world that they had no visibility of flight manifests. This turned out to be false when their personnel inadvertently released a TNF manifest showing that they had replaced some of our Christian evacuees with some of their own preferred Afghan military commandos on our aircraft.
These challenges were ongoing at the time of this report.
However, as a result of our intensive 24-hour air operations during this period, WMR and TNF and our partners were able to get 28 flights out of Afghanistan with 9500 evacuees (as of 1 Nov 2021).
These operations to evacuate at-risk people from Afghanistan were not only hampered by the Taliban and IS-KP, but also by official U.S. agencies attempting to reportedly save face because of an administration-wide failure to provide an evacuation plan.
The U.S. State Department quickly began negotiations with allied nations hoping to block flights of evacuees chartered by private organizations such as The Nazarene Fund. Although we had provided 2 of 28 manifests to the State Department and gained their approval before each flight, they issued a press release telling the world that they had no visibility of flight manifests. This turned out to be false when their personnel inadvertently released a TNF manifest showing that they had replaced some of our Christian evacuees with some of their own preferred Afghan military commandos on our aircraft.
These challenges were ongoing at the time of this report.
However, as a result of our intensive 24-hour air operations during this period, WMR and TNF and our partners were able to get 28 flights out of Afghanistan with 9500 evacuees (as of 1 Nov 2021).
Conclusion
Our team conducted intensive operations in Afghanistan to evacuate persecuted Christians and Muslims between August and November of 2021 on a total of 35 chartered flights resulting in the successful evacuation of 9,503 refugees for TNF and another 3,000+ for allied partners. More than 8,000 of these refugees have since emigrated to other countries. TNF provides assistance in more than 6,000 resettlements.
We not only continue to provide administrative support (legal, medical, and UN required paperwork) in preparation for travel to destination countries, but we have also taken on the new mission of assisting the Canadian and Australian governments in processing more than 2,300 refugees for emigration.
We are also providing support to at-risk Afghans who were unable to leave the country due to the fluid situation on the ground. We maintain safe houses for them, assist them with renewing travel visas, and provide support as they seek emigration to safety in western countries.
We not only continue to provide administrative support (legal, medical, and UN required paperwork) in preparation for travel to destination countries, but we have also taken on the new mission of assisting the Canadian and Australian governments in processing more than 2,300 refugees for emigration.
We are also providing support to at-risk Afghans who were unable to leave the country due to the fluid situation on the ground. We maintain safe houses for them, assist them with renewing travel visas, and provide support as they seek emigration to safety in western countries.
Selected Work
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