Safety of Nepalis in Afghanistan may be compromised due to delay in expansion of the Cabinet by Prime Minister (PM) Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Countries have started to evacuate their nationals from the country as the Taliban fighters have taken most parts of the country under control and are now at the outskirts of the capital city Kabul.
But Nepal does not have any solid plan for evacuation of Nepali nationals stranded there. Deuba has failed to appoint foreign minister in more than a month after becoming PM and that has seriously compromised the efforts to evacuate Nepalis as bureaucrats can do only so much.
"We bureaucrats are doing our best to take initiative. But no decision could be taken in lack of foreign minister," a Foreign Ministry officer confided with Setopati.
Spokesperson at the ministry and Joint Secretary Sewa Lamsal said that the ministry is closely watching the developments there and assured Nepalis currently in Afghanistan are safe. "Secretary at our ministry is coordinating with embassies of other countries in Afghanistan. We are taking initiative to rescue Nepalis together with rescue by other countries of their citizens," Lamsal stated.
She added that the ministry is lobbying with the United Nations (UN) for safety of Nepalis working in Afghanistan for the organization.
The government does not have accurate data about the number of Nepalis in Afghanistan and the ministry estimates that around a thousand Nepalis may be working there as security guards.
But the actual number of Nepalis there can be in thousands with around 1,000 going there every year taking work permit. A large number of Nepalis also reach Afghanistan through illegal means every year.
Nepalis also work there as office assistants, drivers and in other positions in the UN, the European Union, the World Bank, and many foreign missions there, according to the Department of Foreign Employment.
