First Group of Afghan Refugees on the Way to US
Some 2,500 Afghans who aided US set to be relocated
There are thousands of Afghans who provided US forces and diplomats assistance over the nearly 20 years that the United States has had a presence in that Middle Eastern nation.
They provided vital translation and other assistance as the Americans interacted with the local Afghan populations.
Such helpfulness often has been rewarded with what's called “special immigrant visa,” or SIV, so as to resettle as refugees in the United States.
The original authorization for Special Immigrant Visas from Afghanistan was first approved by Congress during the administration of George W Bush, and renewed in both the Obama and the Trump administrations.
“Since President Biden’s announcement this April that U.S. forces would be leaving Afghanistan, the administration’s immediate focus has been on interested and eligible Afghan nationals and their families who have supported the U.S. and our partners in Afghanistan and are in the SIV application pipeline,” Russ Travers, senior deputy homeland security advisor at the White House National Security Council, said in a briefing for reporters. “I am immensely proud to announce our first group of Afghan special immigrants to be relocated under Operation Allies Refuge is now on their way to America. This flight represents a fulfillment of the U.S. commitment and honors these Afghans’ brave service in helping support our mission in Afghanistan, in turn helping to keep our country safe.”
US troops first entered Afghanistan in 2002, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The fundamentalist Taliban who were ruling Afghanistan at the time were giving safe harbor to the mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden.
The Taliban is once again on the move, recapturing territory in Afghanistan since the US withdrawal began.
The Biden administration has dubbed its Afghan resettlement efforts “Operation Allies Refuge.”
There are some 700 Afghan “principal SIV applicants,” and with family members a total of about 2,500 Afghans in the first group.
“They have all completed rigorous security background checks conducted by the intelligence community and the Departments of State and Homeland Security. And they now join the over 70,000 Afghans who have received SIVs and started new lives in the U.S. since 2008,” Travers said. “Their arrival is the culmination of an enormous effort across the U.S. government and one that is a high moment of our careers. So many of us have deep, personal connections here, whether we served at Embassy Kabul, worked alongside these Afghans as diplomats or servicemembers, or worked to advance the Afghan peace process.”
All of the arriving Afghan refugees have been subject to a “thorough background check” as well as screening for COVID-19, officials on the briefing call said.
No further details about the refugees are being released in respect to their privacy.
Further Afghans may be arriving following this round of refugees, according to Ambassador Tracey Jacobson, who came out of retirement to assist with this effort.
“I also want to underscore that the U.S. partnership with Afghanistan is continuing. As Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken said, 'Even as we’re withdrawing our forces, we’re remaining very much engaged in Afghanistan: supporting the government, economic assistance, development assistance, assistance for the security forces, and diplomacy to try to bring the parties together for a peaceful resolution of the conflict,’” Jacobson said.
“Our Consular Section in Kabul is going to continue processing SIVs. So we’re very much looking forward to our Afghan colleagues taking their first steps as new immigrants in our country and very pleased to join today on this call,” she added.
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