Kiwis make it to Qatar from Kabul

New Zealand has managed to retrieve a further 11 citizens, residents, and their family members from Taliban-ruled Kabul.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) confirmed yesterday that 11 people on its evacuation list had been flown out of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on a Qatari Airways flight, adding to another 11 Afghan nationals with New Zealand visas and a citizen who arrived in the country this week.

The Government this month said there were 1100 people in Afghanistan granted visas to enter New Zealand, and before that counted more than a hundred citizens and permanent residents that remained in the country after the Taliban claimed power in August.

On Thursday night, during a roundtable discussion held by online videoconference, members of the Afghan community, non-government organisations, and MPs all said New Zealand needed to offer refuge to more at-risk Afghans and provide more financial aid.

World Vision New Zealand chief executive Grant Bayldon said the United Nations humanitarian response plan for Afghanistan, which is facing major crises including food shortage, was ‘‘woefully underfunded’’.

‘‘We’re asking for aid beyond the $6 million that the New Zealand Government has already allocated, which is a great start, but we know we can go further. And also for an increased refugee intake, and better pathways, immigration pathways, for people who are at risk from having supported New Zealand aid and development there.’’

Abbas Nazari, a former refugee and Fulbright Scholar, said New Zealand had a moral obligation not to abandon the people in Afghanistan who were facing ‘‘imminent threat’’ due to their contribution to New Zealand’s war effort.

In total, 48 New Zealanders and visa holders had left Afghanistan and reached New Zealand since the end of an evacuation effort in August. The most recent group to leave Kabul were flown out by Qatar.