Nearly 750 Afghan evacuees already in Poland

Up to 749 Afghan evacuees are now in Poland, according to a representative of the Office for Foreigners, including most of the Afghan nationals who assisted Polish operations in Afghanistan.

"All the evacuees have been placed under quarantine," Szymon Hajduk of the Office for Foreigners told a joint meeting of the parliamentary committees for migration and integration policy, and for humanitarian assistance and international humanitarian law on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces told PAP that the majority of Afghan nationals who had worked with Poles in one capacity or another are now in Poland.

"We have evacuated all the Polish citizens of whom we are aware of and over 750 Afghan citizens, including the vast majority of those who worked with us in that country," noted the command.

It also said that, "in fact, by the end of June, when the Polish mission in Afghanistan ended, we had evacuated all our Afghan collaborators (together with their families) who wanted to leave."

"More people got in touch with us after the situation in Afghanistan worsened," the command added.

The evacuees have been taken to quarantine centres located in the Warminsko-Mazurskie, Mazowieckie and Podlaskie provinces. Later, they will be moved to centres run by the Office for Foreigners, where they will await decisions on their claims for international protection in Poland.

Following a decision by Poland's President Andrzej Duda, a 100-strong Polish military force has been sent to Afghanistan to help to evacuate Afghans who have worked for Poland and other Nato countries.