Confusion in Afghanistan around who's eligible for New Zealand mercy flight

Tuesday, 17 August 2021

Diamond Kazimi, 28, worked with the New Zealand Defence Force in Afghanistan as an interpreter for two-and-a-half years.

An interpreter whose family worked with the New Zealand Defence Force in Afghanistan is calling for clarity from the Government about who is eligible to come back to New Zealand.

Cabinet announced on Monday that a Defence Force plane, with about 40 personnel, would be sent to Afghanistan to help evacuate New Zealanders and Afghan allies after the Taliban took control of the capital, Kabul.

Diamond Kazimi, 28, worked with the New Zealand Defence Force as an interpreter in 2009 for two-and-a-half years.

But Diamond Kazimi, 28, who worked with the Defence Force as an interpreter in Bamiyan province and now lives in Hamilton, said he has spoken to people in Afghanistan who are confused about where to go and what to do.

He said some interpreters and contractors he had spoken to, who had worked with the Defence Force, had received emails saying they were eligible, while others who also had worked with them had not.

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Hundreds of people run alongside a US Air Force C-17 transport plane as it moves down the runway at the international airport, in Kabul.

With a lot of them living in the Bamiyan province, they didn’t know if they should make their way to the capital, Kabul, or if they would be collected from Bamiyan.

“They are saying ‘where do we go, what do we do’, it’s a bit confusing.

“It needs to be fleshed out and communicated with them.”

Kazimi said the Government could come to them for help with contacting those left in Afghanistan, and they could help tell people what the plan is.

“If you don’t say what’s happening, it will be quite hard.”

And Kazimi is still trying to get answers about whether his three remaining siblings, two of whom had worked with New Zealand in Afghanistan, were eligible to get on the flight.

He was worried about them, as when he last spoke to them in the weekend they were talking of fleeing to the mountains, and he had not heard from them since.

“I’m quite worried about people at the greatest risk, that includes my siblings because of our connection.”

Kazimi had again gone to government officials to get clarity, but has not heard back. He wants to know if there is a system he could go through to work out his siblings’ eligibility.

“I have got no information from them and I don’t know who to contact, everything is up in the air.

“We just want some answers.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand was focusing on those who had helped New Zealand and their immediate families, which could be “in the order of 200” people.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi has been approached for comment.