Former United Nations employees have sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to explain the risks and dangers facing United Nations-affiliated staff in Afghanistan, according to a former employee who knew the letter.
In the letter, former employees note that they are “very concerned about the safety of our colleagues and friends who are at risk,” especially after receiving “disturbing reports about the Taliban attacking houses, beating people for affiliation.” to international organizations and requested meetings for “letters of forgiveness.”
The letter cites the United Nations protocol, which describes the organization’s duty and responsibility to the people it recruits and their families in the event that they are endangered due to their work at the UN. The letter then states directly that “locally recruited staff and their relatives are in danger as a direct consequence of their employment by the organizations of the common system of the United Nations.”
“They should not be asked to sacrifice their lives and security to achieve this. It would be much safer for them to continue their work from abroad, ”the letter concludes.
There are an estimated 3,000 UN officials in Afghanistan. Most are local Afghans and about 10% are women.
The UN has previously stated that about 100 international officials have left the country to work elsewhere.
Guterres held a virtual town hall on Wednesday morning, including United Nations staff in Afghanistan to address security concerns, according to a statement from UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
“We are still studying possible relocations of international personnel, also, obviously, of national personnel at risk. But I think it must be said again that the UN presence in Afghanistan is … the UN is present in Afghanistan and will remain in Afghanistan. ” Dujarric said during the discussion.