People trying to get out of Afghanistan to New Zealand are not being held back because of visa processing, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Speaking at the daily Covid-19 briefing this afternoon, Ardern said there was no way to get all of those people who wanted to escape Afghanistan to New Zealand out of the country in the initial emergency evacuation, but Cabinet planned to figure out what it could do once that was over.
"To be clear, there will be those who had visas, there will be those who will be citizens, who we have not been able to get out of Afghanistan," she said.
"The window was very short. The number of people seeking to leave was enormous. I think it'll be clear at the conclusion of this mission that every country will have some people that they were not able to bring out."
Ardern announced last Monday that New Zealand would try to evacuate all its citizens, as well as those in Afghanistan who had worked with NZDF, police, MFAT or Operation Burnham and who now may be at risk.
The first Afghan evacuees landed in New Zealand on Tuesday, with an RNZAF Hercules aircraft continuing evacuation efforts from Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) in the Afghanistan capital, Kabul.
However, the government this morning said it had halted resettlement applications from Afghans, saying withdrawal from the airport was "imminent".
The US and UK have since warned their citizens to move away from Kabul airport due to security risk, with thousands of people are still waiting inside and outside the airport waiting to fly out.
"No one has gone in with the intention of leaving ... anyone behind, but the reality of the situation has been extraordinarily difficult," Ardern said this afternoon.
She said it was not correct to say people on the ground were unable to get out because they were waiting for sign-off from New Zealand authorities.
"We had of course quite clearly defined criteria that we were working to ... first, of course, focusing on getting New Zealand citizens, permanent residents who were stuck there, also those who supported our agencies and defence force.
"For those, we by and large of course knew and had awareness of who those individuals were. And then there will be those that are visa holders who had already been issued visas but were in Afghanistan."
"There will be some who already have visas, there will be some who had passports who would not have been able to get out and that is not an issue of processing, that is because they are in absolute turmoil in that country right now."
Among reports of Afghans fearing for the lives of their families, a former interpreter for New Zealand said his family members had been left to die at the hands of the Taliban by the New Zealand government.
There have been violent scenes as thousands hoping to flee the country tried to pass through barricades being manned by Taliban members.
The Taliban, which quickly took control of Afghanistan again as US forces pulled out of that country's longest war, has said an extension of the US deadline would violate an agreed deal. They insist all foreign forces must leave by Tuesday.
Ardern said there were three groups of people who the government would need to continue to work to evacuate from the country.
The first group was New Zealand citizens or visa holders who had been unable to reach Kabul airport from the province they were in; the second group was those who supported New Zealand agencies in Afghanistan that faced the same problem; and the third group was a broader general category of refugees.
"Across all international partners there have been tens of thousands of people seeking to leave in very unsafe circumstances ... we've alwasy known that we were going to need to look at what would happen after this emergency mission.
She said there was work to be done "across the international community" to support refugees, with a focus on those who may be of particular concern because of human rights or other work.
"That does involved the UNHCR though, so often it is a slightly longer process so we want to work on that next."
She said no decisions had been made on whether to increase New Zealand's overall refugee quota, saying hte quota had already been doubled.
The previous National government increased the quota from 750 to 1000 in 2016, a decision which took effect two years later, and Labour increased it again to 1500 in 2018 taking effect last year.
"We've always known that we were going to need to look at what would happen after this emergency mission," Ardern said.
The Taliban has promised safety and security, and vowed to preserve women's rights, but there have been reports of a door-to-door manhunt for those who helped New Zealand and women's groups are sceptical of the Taliban's promises.
The UN has also highlighted "credible" reports of abuses by the Taliban, notably restrictions on women.