A Christian member of the United Kingdom's Democratic Unionist Party reportedly urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the House of Commons on Wednesday to evacuate all British missionaries in Afghanistan in the face of the Taliban takeover.
The Christian Headlines said Ian Paisley, Jr. MP raised the matter during Johnson's address on Afghanistan. Paisley raised the more than 200 missionaries in the besieged country.
Paisley pointed out to Johnson the importance of evacuating the said people whose lives are in danger, giving focus on "the plight of religious minorities" in Afghanistan.
"He [Boris Johnson] will be aware that there are 228 missionaries in Afghanistan currently under sentence of death. Those missionaries need to be taken out of Afghanistan. Of course, there are tens of thousands of others who are under sentence of death and fear for their life," Paisley said as per Premier Christian News.
"Will the Prime Minister assure the house that every effort will be made to bring back to safe haven, people whose lives are under threat as a result of the catastrophe and foreign policy episode that has gone on in that contract?" he addressed Johnson.
In response, Johnson thanked Paisley for bringing the matter to his attention and acknowledged its importance, referring to it as a "very needy case."
Johnson assured that his administration is doing all they can to help those in need in Afghanistan, especially those they have a "debt" to. He reported that the government has already "secured the safe return" of 306 nationals from the United Kingdom and 2,052 nationals from Afghanistan as part of the resettlement program. This, he said, is on top of the 2,000 Afghan applications that have been completed and excludes many others being processed.
"I'm sure that colleagues across the house--literally every remember I imagine--has received messages from people who know someone who needs to get out of Afghanistan, and I can tell the Right Honourable Gentleman that we are doing everything we can to help out of that country, those people to whom we owe a debt of obligation," Johnson announced.
Christianity is mostly "underground" in Afghanistan. Christians are highly persecuted in the country where death sometimes await the believer on top of being abandoned by family and property being taken away. Christian conversions are risky and any one caught evangelizing is punished with death. This is actually why the non-profit organization Open Doors ranked Afghanistan as the second worst country to be in as a Christian next to North Korea.
In a statement released on Tuesday, The White House announced that Johnson has actually spoken with President Joe Biden regarding the situation in Afghanistan. Axios reported that the said call is the first Biden has received from a foreign government ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan.
The White House said Biden and Johnson discussed the efforts being done in evacuating all those who have "assisted in the war effort" in Afghanistan and have stressed the need for "close coordination" to support those who are "vulnerable" there. Both leaders have agreed to meet with the rest of the G7 leaders next week in "going forward" for Afghanistan.
"President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke today regarding developments in Afghanistan. They commended the bravery and professionalism of their military and civilian personnel, who are working shoulder to shoulder in Kabul on the evacuation of their citizens and Afghan nationals who assisted in the war effort," The White House statement revealed.
"They also discussed the need for continued close coordination among allies and democratic partners on Afghanistan policy going forward, including ways the global community can provide further humanitarian assistance and support for refugees and other vulnerable Afghans. They agreed to hold a virtual G7 leaders' meeting next week to discuss a common strategy and approach," it added.
Biden pulled out the United States' military forces from Afghanistan a day before his call with Johnson--a decision, he said, he knew "will be criticized" but opted to take instead of passing on the burden "to another President of the United States." Evangelist Franklin Graham and former President Donald Trump were among the first to criticize Biden's decision. While former CIA Agent Matt Zeller called Biden's Monday speech on Afghanistan "a profound bald-faced lie."
