Written Evidence by IPS Published: Inquiry Into the HMG’s Policy Toward Afghanistan

IPS members recently responded to the Foreign Affair Committee’s Parliamentary Inquiry into UK leadership and the withdrawal from Afghanistan. ELAC Deputy Director Federica D’Alessandra and IPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow Ross James Gildea submitted written evidence examining how the UK handled the international military withdrawal, with a particular focus on UK-international and interdepartmental co-ordination, as well as the design and implementation of evacuation and resettlement plans. It also engaged with the question of government support for those at risk, both in the process and aftermath of withdrawal. The authors highlight a serious of questions which they believe warrant further clarity and which will offer important insight into events surrounding the withdrawal, and recommend that MPs consider and pursue these questions in future inquiries to HMG on Afghanistan.