The clock brushed 04.40 hours when they began to parade through the A400M plane ladder the first 53 Spaniards and Repatriate Afghan collaborators from Afghanistan.
They were already in patriotic soil.
Specifically at the Torrejon Air Base of Ardoz (Madrid), where dozens of tents and pavilions enabled so that they could rest after a fatigible flight from Dubai.
His serious, thoughtful faces were only the reflection of the popular feeling after the ‘conquest’ of Afghanistan by the Taliban.
Lost glances that intermovated with yawns and gestures of bewilderment.
There was no space for celebrations.
Back they had left family members.
To friends.
And to a town trapped between the wall and the Kalashnikov of the Taliban who do not know what will be from him.
Just a girl just a year ago contributed some expressiveness at night.
In the arms of her father gesturing abstracted without separating the view of her from the sky of Madrid, totally alien to the drama she had brought them here.
They both lined up, along with the rest of evacuees, on foot.
The reason for this wait was the reception that the Foreign Ministers, José Manuel Albares, and inclusion, José Luis Escrivá wanted to give those present.
One by one.
Without breaking the same row, they were advancing up to one of the hangars of the base where there was a medical position in which they took the temperature and made the relevant antigen test, to rule out possible positives in Covid.
Then they were held in another position, this police, where they were identified and where they formalized their request for international protection.
And, yes, they were finally, they could access their habitats where they tried overnight.
This first group, where a notable presence of children stood out, was constituted by the five Spaniards who still resided in the country and an initial batch of Afghans, together with their relatives, who helped Spain during these years of military mission in the Asian country
Running roles like those of translator.
All of them will be in Torrejón de Ardoz a maximum of 72 hours and, subsequently, they will be distributed by host centers of the State, distributed throughout the country, while their asylum request is processed.
In these centers they will learn Spanish, they will receive psychological help and will have a relationship with the different administrations in order to “gain autonomy”.
Minister Escrivá has pointed out that forecasting is that each family can live alone “as a colophon to the integration process.”
For its part, its outdoor counterpart has wanted to highlight that “there are no longer Spanish left in Afghanistan, beyond the ambassador and the staff necessary to finish the evacuation tasks,” adding that the situation in Kabul “is extremely complex” and that all
The countries “We are facing the same difficulties.”
“Kabul Airport is not in the hands of Spain, we all have collaborators and we want to bring them. It is a certain bottleneck, but we will not hold on the commitment to entering this airport and bringing the maximum number of Afghan collaborators in the
Less time possible, “said Albares.
The ministers have not revealed the exact number of evacuees, but as it has been able to find out this diary by knowledgeable sources of the list, it would be integrated by “about 600 Afghans”.
The Collaborators of the Spanish Army will be allowed to be accompanied by spouses, children, parents, single sisters and other relatives in a situation of dependence.
There are many who continue hidden in this Asian country, waiting for the call from the Foreign Ministry that reveals the date and time to get out of Kabul.
Although the Taliban are not easy.
As the Government of the United States expressed yesterday, harassment is being produced towards Afghan citizens, despite the initial promises that they would not retaliate.
“We have seen reports that Taliban, against their public statements, are preventing Afghans who wish to leave the country reach the airport,” said Wendy Sherman, Undersecretary of State.
While all this happens, in Dubai, another two A400 aircraft await, one of them medicalized, to continue with the repatriation tasks.
