Qatar evacuates female students and media personnel from Afghanistan

Hundreds of students and journalists evacuated from Afghanistan now safe in Qatar

Qatar has evacuated hundreds of mostly-female students and media personnel from Afghanistan to the safety and comfort of Doha, and such missions will continue, Assistant Foreign Minister HE Lolwah Al Khater has said in response to an American journalist’s tweet about 10,000 people being stuck at the Kabul airport.

Hundreds of mostly-female students and media personnel evacuated from Afghanistan are now safe in Qatar and such missions will continue, Assistant Foreign Minister HE Lolwah Al Khater has said in response to an American journalist’s tweet about 10,000 people being stuck at the Kabul airport.

I can only speak on Qatar evacuation missions, they will continue!

In the past 72 hours we evacuated over 300 mostly female students & over 200 media personnel; many of them with their families & kids who are now safe in comfortable accommodation in Doha. https://t.co/0F6yeFFDPX pic.twitter.com/L6IAoVraNS

— ????? ?????? Lolwah Alkhater (@Lolwah_Alkhater) August 20, 2021

“Soldiers by the runway at Kabul airport tell me that there are 10,000 people here processed and ready to go… but nowhere to fly them to because Qatar is refusing to accept more Afghans because they’ve reached capacity. It’s abysmal… someone needs to step up,” Clarissa Ward, the chief international correspondent for CNN, tweeted on Friday.

In response, HE Khater, who is also the spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted: “I can only speak on Qatar evacuation missions, they will continue! In the past 72 hours we evacuated over 300 mostly female students & over 200 media personnel; many of them with their families & kids who are now safe in comfortable accommodation in Doha.”

British Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa HE James Cleverly on his twitter account thanked Qatar's continued mediation role. "I was speaking with @Lolwah_Alkhater earlier about the situation in Afghanistan. I thanked her for Qatar’s continued mediation role, and the help they have provided in getting British nationals back to the UK from Kabul," he tweeted. 

UN High Commissioner also praised the efforts of the State of Qatar in Afghanistan, expressing his hope that these efforts lead to a better reality for refugees and their families.