Press Statement: Evacuation Transit Flights
Attributable to the Spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Berlin
As the United States mobilizes an unprecedented, global effort to evacuate Americans, personnel from partner nations, and vulnerable Afghans from Kabul, we are working closely with our allies to ramp up operations. Our focus right now is getting people out of harm’s way. To do that, we have sought assistance from our friends in Germany and other locations.
Today, flights evacuating vulnerable Afghans and other evacuees began to arrive at Ramstein Air Base. These individuals will remain on the base temporarily while in transit to more permanent resettlement locations.
We are grateful for the German government’s partnership in this effort and over the last 20 years in Afghanistan. Our cooperation to bring to safety those who have supported our collective efforts in Afghanistan is a testament to the strength of our bilateral ties and our commitment as NATO allies.
We reached this agreement with Germany based on our shared values and common mission to get people out of Afghanistan and out of harm’s way.
In the next few days, we expect to add additional temporary transit locations in Europe for vulnerable Afghans. These sites are critical to our efforts to bring to safety those who are vulnerable to Taliban reprisals due to their efforts to help the United States and our partners. These temporary transit locations will significantly increase the United States’ capacity to evacuate vulnerable Afghans from Kabul.