Afghan Evacuation Support

With the collapse of the NATO-backed government in Afghanistan on August 15th, 2021, PDC staff stepped up to support the evacuation process on a volunteer basis starting in August. PDC’s Executive Director and Co-Founder, Sasha Ghosh-Siminoff, having worked in the aid, development, and advocacy space for a decade in the Middle East and North Africa region, volunteered to support his fellow colleagues in the field who had Afghan colleagues they were attempting to extract from the country after the fall of the NATO-backed Afghan Government. Having a healthy number of contacts with numerous NATO governments, Mr. Ghosh-Siminoff volunteered his time to support the evacuation of NATO citizens, lawful residents, and Afghan allies via Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) up until the United States withdrawal on August 31st, 2021. Coordination occurred with the US, Canadian, German, British and French governments during the withdrawal. Mr. Ghosh-Siminoff described this experience on a recent podcast with Newlines Institutes: https://newlinesinstitute.org/afghanistan/roamings-and-reflections-afghanistans-digital-dunkirk/

PDC continues to work on supporting those Afghan allies who were left behind and is currently working to transition this volunteer work over to a formal program, which can work on this complex problem set in an institutional manner moving forward. PDC currently is a coalition partner in the Afghan Evac Coalition: https://afghanevac.org

Photo Credit: Ehsunallah Saadat