A storm of criticism directed at Secretary of State Brookers-Knoll, who warns of a “brain drain” in Afghanistan

PvdA spokeswoman Katy Perry wants Broekers-Knol to answer during Tuesday’s question time. It is impossible to make such statements. I’m really angry about this. The evacuation from Kabul ended a month ago and the cabinet still has no idea how many people who worked with us want to come here and how this should be arranged. Talking about brain drain is really heartless and tasteless. According to Perry, a scheduled discussion on the situation in Afghanistan has been postponed for a week to next Wednesday at the request of the outgoing Foreign Minister Ben Knappen (CDA).

Marek Koekwick of Vault believes that Broekers-Knol’s statements can be compared to those of the Taliban and “are also sprinkled with incorrect numbers”. Koekkoek refers to the calculations Broekers-Knol made in the interview based on the number of emails with requests for assistance still with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “If all of those 23,000 emails are from individuals, and if they all want to take their families with them, that’s 100,000 people, said Knol. My honest answer is no. We can’t handle that. This is problematic.

Koekkoek thinks Broekers-Knol doesn’t do the Afghans justice, but neither does her office. She wants not only Broekers-Knol to be in charge, but outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte as well. The head of the Dink party, Farid Azraqan, said on Twitter: ‘Sad and intolerable interview. Soo on DVD.

inappropriate

Not only the opposition parties are decisive. CDA MP and Defense Spokesperson Dirk Posvik: “Sometimes listening to your spokesperson isn’t a bad idea.” He’s referring to the phrase in which Broekers-Knol says in the interview with her account: “My spokesperson must be thinking now: That’s not an appropriate thing to say. But I just think you should be honest about it.”

D66 spokeswoman Salima Belhaj sees the statements as “appalling,” she says via Twitter. The strange interview in ad Let Anke Broekers-Knol drown me out today. Say just one word to her remarks: horrible. In any case, I will continue to work hard to bring vulnerable Afghans here.

Don Seder of Cristinoni wrote on Twitter: “The inappropriate and painful statements of Secretary of State Brookers-Knoll today do not do justice to the horrific developments in Afghanistan. Nor do they do justice to the people who served in the Netherlands Mission, but were not evacuated in time. Two weeks ago, I endorsed ChristenUnie A censure motion that led to the resignation of outgoing Minister Sigrid Kaag (D66) of Foreign Affairs and outgoing Minister Ank Bielefeld (CDA) of the Department of Defense.

Broekers-Knol saw no reason to resign in this blame movement. To be honest: I thought for a moment, ‘Oh my God, what’s my stance?’ You’re replaying the movie in your head: Did I miss a beat? At the end of this movie I came to the conclusion: No, you don’t have to quit. Personally, I think a minister should not resign after assigning blame. This is a yellow card.