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Urgent assistance must be provided to evacuate Afghans who worked with Australia and remain at risk in their country, a senate report has found.
- Eight recommendations have been made to the federal government
- These recommendations mainly focus on Afghans who helped Australians
- The report says the federal government should do all it can to help secure visas for those stuck in Afghanistan
The report also recommended a full review be undertaken into the controversial aspects of efforts to evacuate the locals who worked with Australia's civilian and military operations in Afghanistan.
In total there were eight recommendations made in the report.
The release of the report on Friday coincided with an announcement from the federal government that it would allow at least 15,000 places for Afghan nationals via the humanitarian and family visa program.
Two of the recommendations dealt with the overall operations in Afghanistan calling for an assessment of the government mission and that the government publish a breakdown of the total cost of the engagement for each year and for every department involved.
But the majority of the foreign affairs, defence and trade references committee's investigations focused on controversial events surrounding the evacuation of Afghans who were associated with Australian operations.
The 272-page report noted there have been reports that some locally engaged employees who applied for visas tragically "have been injured or killed by the Taliban with others currently in hiding due to their association with Australia".
"The committee heard from advocates who were working with Australian visa holders attempting to evacuate at [Kabul Airport], including individuals associated with the Australian embassy in Kabul, that were rejected entry to the airport by Australian personnel and were unable to secure passage on the Australian evacuation flights," the report said.
"These Afghan people still remain at high risk from Taliban reprisals in Afghanistan."
It recommended that the Australian government makes "every effort to finalising certifications and visa applications for Afghan locally engaged employees and their families as quickly as possible, and extending assistance to those still eligible in Afghanistan to make their way to Australia".
The report said it was unclear how many people were left behind in Afghanistan following the Australian airlift evacuation operation that took place in August.
It said while 4,168 people were evacuated during an airlift and another 1,700 were able to leave by November 22, the federal government did not have a precise figure or estimate for the number of Australian citizens, permanent residents, and visa holders remaining in Afghanistan.
The report stated that 2,086 individuals who had been issued with the government's 449 visas had not arrived in Australia.
"Additionally, it is known that as at 11 October there were 400 Afghan visa holders outside of Australia as well as 7,500 Afghan partner visa applicants located outside of Australia in mid-November,'' the report said.
"The committee noted that Home Affairs and DFAT did not present an estimate of how many people have been left behind in Afghanistan following Australia's evacuation efforts."
The findings were cautiously welcomed by military lawyer Glen Kolomeitz whose GAP Veteran and Legal Services submission was quoted in the report.
Mr Kolomeitz, who has been extensively involved in evacuating locals who worked for Australia in Afghanistan, said the inquiry had opened a line of communication with the relevant Commonwealth ministers.
But he said: "Unfortunately the government departments still needed to do much more."
"We still have hundreds of Afghans to whom we owe a duty of care, who have no visas or have expired visas or with no prospects of evacuation," he said.
The report also said an independent review should be conducted into the operation of the Australian evacuation effort to ensure that departmental practices and coordination are improved in future.
Other recommendations called for the Australian government to develop and implement better procedures to keep track of Australian citizens, permanent residents, visa holders and visa applicants at risk during crisis situations.
Another is the government should work with coalition partners and international organisations to support the resettlement of Afghan nationals globally, with Australia making a contribution of places within the humanitarian, family, skilled and other permanent visa categories to help settle those Afghan nationals displaced by the crisis.