UK Charity Needs Urgent Help to Evacuate Female Staff from Kabul

[BuffysBigSister]

The Linda Norgrove Foundation does fantastic work supporting women & girls in Afghanistan. They are a Scotland based charity set up by the family of Linda Norgrove, an aid worker who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.

They need urgent help to evacuate their female staff from Kabul who they believe are in immediate danger, not just because they are women working for a foreign organisation but because they belong to the Hazara ethnic minority

If you have time could you please email your MP and ask for their urgent assistance.

lindanorgrovefoundation.org/evacuate-our-afghan-staff/

@Igneococcus

I met Lorna Norgrove at a pre-Christmas party a few years back (her daughter, Linda's sister lives in the next village to mine) and she told me about some of the work they are doing in Afghanistan. I'll get writing and share on FB but I only have about 40 friends, mostly not in the UK.

Thanks for sharing that. I hope they'll be able to get back to doing the work they were doing soon.

OP, The Halo Trust are also a Scottish charity who work in Afghanistan. They've evacuated all their staff now, but I wondered if they might be able to offer ideas? I'll send them the link and see if they might have any thoughts. www.halotrust.org/

Done. Good luck.

I’ve put a thread on AIBU with your info Op. But it’s fallen off the front page without a single response.

I’ve bumped the thread on AIBU.

I can bump.

Found the AIBU thread 👍

Thanks to everyone who has tweeted or contacted their MP. They've managed to get some coverage in the press but still no action from the Foreign Office. If you're able to keep pushing their story it would be appreciated as they are a small organisation.

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/25/scottish-charity-linda-norgrove-urges-raab-to-help-evacuate-two-afghan-aid-workers

Yes great to see the guardian has reported on this.

Good to see it's been reported in the Guardian. I emailed my MP earlier today. Hope he responds.

OP, this is the latest on resettlement - charity workers one of the priority groups but scheme not open yet.

www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme

We are also prioritising the following groups:

current or former Chevening Scholars
people with existing leave or an open application for student, work, and family visas
journalists and those who worked with British news agencies
members of civil society groups for womens’ rights
Afghan government officials
officials working in counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics
employees of charities, humanitarian organisations and NGOs

Done

I have had a response from my own MP to confirm that they are aware of the situation and they are working with the charity's local MP (Angus MacNeil) to try to help. Also had a DM on Twitter from another MP to say there was work going on in the background.

Obviously the situation has deteriorated significantly since I first posted, for everyone in Afghanistan. Events at the airport yesterday were horrific. I don't know if it's possible to be optimistic at this point but I do want to say thanks again to everyone who contacted their MP and helped publicise this particular case.

Let's hope they get out, OP. It's horrible to watch things unfold. I mean, I have no words for it.

I'm so glad some people have useful MPs (I know that sounds sarcastic but it's not meant to be!).

Every bit of news that comes out about Afghanistan just now seems to get worse & worse, I hope they can get them out.

Looks like the airlift is over. Ben Wallace now saying RAF will finish in 'hours.'

Anyone left will have to try a land border, eg the Khyber Pass still controlled by anti-Taliban resistance.

My MP said his team phoned the Home Office and FDCO on Wednesday about them. I hope the staff have managed to get out. It's so grim.

This is the problem with US foreign policy. It is all about scoring points with potential voters in the US with no thought to the impact on the countries and inhabitants they have operations in.

Yes. And in some cases it's about disaster capitalism. Not saying that's the case here, but the US in terms of foreign policy are very far from the picture they like to present of the world saviour, from what I can see.

@WeAreTheWomen @ArabellaScott yes, exactly. Their foreign policy is blinkered and aimed solely at domestic voters. But I think the era of US hegemony is coming to an end. Russia and China will be moving in as the US weakens….

Something to look forward to ...

Such a dreadful situation.

The Taliban aren’t letting any Afghans leave now, even if they are in possession of a non-Afghan passport. U.S. also suddenly changed paperwork rules to make it almost impossible for Afghans to leave.

I didn’t hear back from my MP, and am
also encouraged that there are some who do actively engage with their constituents.