Nicola Gordon-Smith is a former Australian diplomat. She served as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2018-2019 and head of the taskforce for Australia’s Afghanistan assisted departure team.
While Australia managed to get many locally employed Afghans and their immediate family out, many family members remain behind. And that is very hard for those people, who are experiencing fear and anxiety being separated from family members, loved ones. The issue of refugees requires regional approaches, and global. It is not simple, there are many aspects of domestic and international policy involved. It’s about people – it matters and it’s very difficult.