Poland’s government has issued an appeal for help in finding the family of an Afghan boy who was saved by Polish troops.
“13-year-old Fawad lost his family during an attempt at evacuation,” wrote Michał Dworczyk, the prime minister’s chief of staff, in a tweet sent out in both Polish and English. “He was saved in extremely difficult conditions by Polish soldiers. They have been trying to find his relatives since Sunday.”
Dworczyk posted an image of the boy, and appealed for others to share the message. He also noted that the information had been sent to NGOs.
13-letni Fawad w trakcie próby ewakuacji zagubił swoją rodzinę. Został uratowany w niezwykle trudnych warunkach przez 🇵🇱 żołnierzy. Od niedzieli starają się odnaleźć jego bliskich. Informacja trafiła do organizacji pozarządowych. Prośba o #RT i wspólne zaangażowanie! #FawadFamily pic.twitter.com/lvLOHqTO3t
— Michał Dworczyk (@michaldworczyk) August 24, 2021
Polish military aircraft and personnel have since last Tuesday been engaged in evacuating people from Kabul airport, following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.
Initial efforts focused on Polish citizens and Afghans who had worked with Poland during its presence in the country from 2002 until this year. Poland has also agreed to evacuate 300 Afghans who worked with NATO.
Yesterday, the foreign ministry announced that all Polish citizens who declared a desire to be evacuated from Afghanistan have now been brought to safety.
But the majority of those airlifted out have been Afghans. Today, a tenth Polish transport arrived in Warsaw with around 100 people on board. That brought the total number evacuated to over 750, reports Polsat News.
Dziś rano w Warszawie wylądował 10. samolot ewakuacyjny. Na pokładzie znalazło się 116 osób, w tym 37. dzieci poniżej piątego roku życia. Łącznie ewakuowaliśmy z Kabulu już ponad 700 osób.#EwakuacjaAfganistan pic.twitter.com/Ud1ngoWsmJ
— Michał Dworczyk (@michaldworczyk) August 24, 2021
Dworczyk said today, however, that the “the situation is getting more and more dangerous” at Kabul airport, which is making evacuation more challenging.
A number of Polish municipalities have expressed a willingness to take in refugees from Afghanistan. Yesterday, Jacek Karnowski, the mayor of Sopot, a resort town on Poland’s Baltic coast, revealed that Dworczyk had called him to discuss the idea.
While Karnowski told RMF24 that he was “pleased” with Dworczyk’s approach, he also criticised the government for “holding [refugees] behind a fence at the border” with Belarus, where there has been a recent rise in illegal crossings.
Main image credit: michaldworczyk/Twitter
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
