Letter to Swedish MPs

 12 March 2024

Minister for Defence Pål Jonson,

Member of Parliament Annika Hirvonen,

Member of Parliament Stefan Olsson.

Subject: Swedish responsibility to protect its former Afghan Local Staff and their families. 

Dear Minister Pål Jonson, dear Members of Parliament Annika Hirvonen and Stefan Olsson.

We are writing to you on behalf of Local Staff International (LSI). LSI is an international non-profit organisation concerned with the protection and rights of (sub-) contracted Local Staff (LS), both during military, civilian, humanitarian, development, and diplomatic missions and when such missions come to an end. The national organisations that are represented in our board and membership have demonstrated significant expertise in the past in evacuating, supporting, and integrating LS employed during the US-led international mission in Afghanistan.  

We have followed with great interest and some concern the current debate in the Swedish Parliament on the treatment of Swedish LS in Afghanistan and the media coverage on their plight. Due to Sweden’s early termination of the resettlement efforts, around 50 Afghan LS who previously worked for Sweden are left behind in Afghanistan where they continue to  be exposed to the threat of the Taliban, together with their families. As was acknowledged in the debate, these approximately 50 Afghan LS have simply had the misfortune of not having been included in earlier evacuation efforts; their exposure to risk and employment record is comparable to those Afghan LS who have been welcomed into Swedish society over the past years. 

The Swedish state’s care for the lives of former Afghan LS is a matter of reliability, credibility, as well as political wisdom. The position of the Afghan LS workers should not be regarded as that of petitioners to the Swedish state, but as that of persons entitled to a legally guaranteed right to protection from existential threats. In light of this and in view of the forthcoming membership of NATO, LSI recommends that the process of bringing LS under Swedish protection be resumed until the final cohort of LS supporting the Swedish mission has found refuge in Sweden. With only about 50 former LS left in Afghanistan, the target is within close reach, giving Sweden the opportunity to become an international beacon of justice and responsibility towards LS.  

Despite the multinational nature of the mission, an overarching international resettlement scheme for Afghan LS or a harmonisation of national protection programmes was never developed¹. It is not too late, however, to share expertise and learn from best practices developed by other countries. 

For example, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the UK and the United States have continued running resettlement programmes to bring sanctuary to LS left in Afghanistan, after Sweden ceased its protection efforts, with the support of (consular services in) third countries. This includes Pakistan, a country with which the Swedish Government in 2022 already successfully negotiated safe passage for their LS. Their Governments have drawn on the expertise of veteran advocates – in similar positions as Swedish Afghanistan veteran Björn Blanck -, for instance by temporarily incorporating individual veterans with appropriate security screening into the administration of the resettlement programmes, to support operational efficiency. The successful efforts by other countries to get LS out of harm’s way demonstrate that the Taliban silently condones their removal from Afghanistan. Hence while the risk of evacuating LS is small, the gain in terms of protecting people’s life and restoring Sweden’s international standing is significant. 

A renewed Swedish enhanced resettlement effort – similar to the Swedish efforts in early 2022 –  will also be materially eased by the fact that they have already been identified by the Swedish Migration Agency and Swedish Armed Forces, with each of them contactable through email and other means of communication. The LS themselves are all ready to receive the required assistance and on short notice prepared to move to an airport or official border crossing.

As an international solution-oriented organisation, LSI can offer its expertise on the various methods and means of transfer, communication and resettlement of those left behind, to support Sweden in fulfilling its responsibility towards its former LS and completing its mission.  Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely, 

1.  de Jong, and S. Sarantidis, D. 2022. “Divided in Leaving Together: The resettlement of Afghan locally employed staff,” IGDC Working Papers & Briefings – Working Paper No.2, Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre, University of York. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.34804.01925 ↩︎