A look at the Defence news 7 – 13 June
Soldiers from 13 Light Brigade were given the opportunity to update King Willem-Alexander on their operations in complex situations. Among other things, they discussed new technologies that the brigade uses when operating in forests and urban environments.
Through a fictional scenario, the king was shown how the brigade uses reconnaissance drones and other innovative systems to gather additional information.
This was demonstrated with remote-controlled systems to provide ground troops with more data. These systems are vital in ensuring that military operations abroad and support operations under civilian authority in the Netherlands become even more effective.
13 Light Brigade is rapidly deployable over large distances worldwide, for combat or peacekeeping operations, but also in the event of disasters and calamities.
Veterans assist efforts to relocate Afghan interpreters
The government has increased its efforts to relocate Afghan interpreters and their families to the Netherlands. They will be able to apply for asylum in the Netherlands, provided they wish to do so and meet the requirements of course. The Ministry of Defence has increased its capacity to assess these requirements and is now also involving veterans in this check.
Interpreters will no longer be referred to other coalition countries, even though they may have worked for that country for an extended period of time. It is sufficient to have worked for the Netherlands. The ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs have been in contact with a great number of coalition partners over the past week, with the aim of determining the approach taken by countries such as Germany and the United States. This information collection was used to see how the procedure could be expedited.
At present, 74 interpreters and their families have relocated to the Netherlands.