Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Humanitarian Assistance for Afghanistan, 14 September 2021

QUESTION

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether Singapore and ASEAN will render any humanitarian assistance to affected civilians or those seeking to evacuate Afghanistan after the takeover of the country by the Taliban and, if so, what are the forms of assistance.

REPLY

                   Singapore is closely monitoring developments in Afghanistan following the collapse of the former Afghan government.

2                 To help reduce the humanitarian burden on the evacuees from Afghanistan, Singapore had deployed the RSAF’s A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft to assist in the evacuation operations, as announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a joint press conference with US Vice President Kamala Harris on 23 August 2021. The MRTT mission, staffed by 77 personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces, departed from Singapore on 26 August 2021 and returned to Singapore on 10 September 2021. During this period, it air-lifted over 2,200 evacuees from Qatar to Germany. To date, there are no plans for ASEAN to render any humanitarian assistance to affected civilians or those seeking to evacuate Afghanistan.

3                 Ultimately, the future of Afghanistan is a matter for the Afghan people to decide. We hope that the transition will be peaceful, and that all parties will refrain from violence and reach an agreement on the way forward through peaceful negotiations.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

14 SEPTEMBER 2021