August 22, 2021
As the United States mobilizes an unprecedented, global effort to evacuate Americans, personnel from partner nations, and vulnerable Afghans, we are working closely with our allies to ramp up evacuation/relocation operations. Our focus right now is getting people out of harm’s way. To do that, the United States is working with the government of Italy to facilitate the transit of people departing Afghanistan through U.S. military facilities in Italy on their way to more permanent resettlement locations, in the United States and in third countries. Flights evacuating vulnerable Afghans and other evacuees have begun to arrive in Germany, at Ramstein Air Base. We expect flights will also soon arrive in Italy at U.S. military facilities.
In the next few days, we expect to add additional temporary transit locations in Europe for vulnerable Afghans. We are grateful for the Italian government’s partnership in this effort and over the last 20 years in Afghanistan. Our cooperation to bring to safety those who have supported our collective efforts in Afghanistan is a testament to the strength of our bilateral ties and our commitment as NATO Allies. We reached these agreements with Germany and Italy based on our shared values and common mission to get people out of harm’s way.
