The Red Handkerchiefs Operation – August 2021, Humanitarian Evacuation from Kabul by NOVE Caring Humans
During the Taliban takeover, NOVE’s Office in Kabul was overwhelmed by desperate requests of evacuation, mostly coming from women in danger such as activists, politicians, ngos or former government employees. When Giovanna Foglia, Head of the Trust Nel Nome della Donna[1], offered free flights with Electra Airways, NOVE started the Red Handkerchief Operation.
The operation, a land corridor + air bridge, was run by NOVE’s Italian Afghan staff, members and volunteers, in collaboration with the Italian Joint Operations Command (Operation Aquila Omnia), the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Trust Nel Nome della Donna.
It seemed an impossible mission for a small NGO. The persons to be evacuated were terrified civilians (mostly women carrying their children with them), not used to obey to orders and to move at night, defying curfew and skipping the Taliban checkpoints. NOVE divided them in small groups and gave instructions to each group via WhatsApp and Telegram, involving the Afghan diaspora who helped to keep constant contacts with everyone, in Dari and Pashto. The groups were assembled at pre-designated points and guided forward together toward the airport gates, making it easier to break through. Lookouts positioned along the routes reported blockages and dangers.
In the meanwhile, Kabul airport had been stormed by thousands of persons trying to escape, walls of people blocked the entrances.
It was total chaos. When the groups guided by NOVE reached the airport, some persons got lost in the crowd. The gates were closed; it was not known in advance which would open and when. Those who had reached a gate, exhausted, had to resist hours or days without food and water, hoping the gate would open for some minutes and they would be admitted. Communications became increasingly difficult, as phone batteries died.
To make the identification easier, NOVE had instructed the persons it assisted to have a red handkerchief tied to the wrist or the cloth; and had informed of this the Italian soldiers patrolling the airport, the Carabinieri Tuscania. The Carabinieri finally spotted a young woman with the red handkerchief, sent her picture to NOVE who recognized her, and opened the gate to let her in. The woman, Amina, bravely went out again, several times, with the Carabinieri, to identify and bring in the others lost in the crowd.
Civil flights could not land in Kabul in those days. The Italian Air Force plane brought the evacuees included in NOVE’s list to Kuwait City, where they flew to Rome with the aircraft provided by the Trust, accompanied by a NOVE’s staff.
This is how over 400 people in danger were safely evacuated by NOVE, who continued to assist them in Italy accelerating asylum procedures and setting up dedicated projects.
Three days after the last person assisted by NOVE left the airport, a terrorist attack killed over 180 persons still waiting to leave.
Press review:
https://apnews.com/article/europe-b304721be095487737302f61123f76bc
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/afghan-italian-taliban-afghans-rome-b1908007.html
https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/m0010wyt (Madina’s interview)
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/aug/24/red-handkerchiefs-inked-palms-speeding-afghans-to-/
[1] In the Name of the Woman