State brings in almost 600 people fleeing Taliban's 2021 takeover of Afghanistan

Passengers boarding a US Air Force plane during an evacuation at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport in August 2021. The Irish Government established the emergency Afghan Admissions Programme (AAP) in the wake of the Taliban returning to power in Afghanistan, following the withdrawal of Nato troops from the region in mid-2021. Photo: Master Sgt Donald R. Allen/US Air Forces Europe-Africa

Nearly 600 people have been granted emergency permission to come to Ireland from Afghanistan following the Taliban's return to power, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said.

The Government established the emergency Afghan Admissions Programme (AAP) in the wake of the Taliban returning to power in Afghanistan, following the withdrawal of Nato troops from the region in mid-2021.