Refugee and human rights advocates say work to evacuate Afghan allies and families 'not done'
Gabe Ortiz
While the U.S. military forces are finally out of Afghanistan after two decades of war, advocates who have been working to evacuate and resettle Afghan allies and their families said during a call Tuesday that their work is only just beginning. "Our message is clear,” said Chris Purdy, Project Manager of the Veterans for American Ideals program at Human Rights First. “August 31 may be the Biden administration's deadline, but it is not ours.”
The Biden administration has informed resettlement refugee agencies—decimated under the previous administration but eager to welcome these families—to prepare to welcome 50,000 people. Americans are also readying: Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service President Krish O’Mara Vignarajah said that 40,000 people have signed up at the organization’s website to volunteer in efforts in the past two weeks. “By comparison, the group gets about a dozen offers during a typical week,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
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Advocates during the call expressed concern about resources available to Afghan allies and families after arriving in the U.S. While many are here through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, the federal government has allowed others to enter the U.S. through humanitarian parole—the same process used to allow separated families to reunite here. However, “[t]hose people aren’t entitled to any of the resettlement benefits afforded formal refugees,” The Wall Street Journal said.
“Though Congress allotted $500 million for the administration to provide these people some benefits, resettlement leaders say the money won’t meet all the needs of the 50,000 people they have been told to expect,” the report continued. This means that resettlement agencies also depend on the donations of time and goods from the public, from cash to toiletries to diapers and baby formula—basically anything you’d need when leaving everything behind and starting over.
“We’re going to make it work, no matter how difficult, but I’d be lying to you if I said we aren’t concerned,” HIAS President Mark Hetfield told The Wall Street Journal.
For months, advocates—who had been pleading with the Biden administration to act quickly to evacuate allies to a U.S. territory like Guam—expressed further concern for those left behind. They said their research had identified 118,000 SIV-eligible allies and dependents still in Afghanistan following U.S. withdrawal. The number of allies eligible for protection under expanded guidelines announced earlier this summer is even more significant, at anywhere between 145,000 people, to nearly 1.1 million.
The State Department said in a statement the U.S. is among the nearly 100 nations pledging to continue evacuations from Afghanistan, with “assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from our countries will be allowed to proceed in a safe and orderly manner to points of departure and travel outside the country.” Whether those assurances stand the test of time wait to be seen. In a statement received by Daily Kos, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth said that we “cannot forget the brave Afghans” who remain at risk.”
“Our military and our entire nation owe these Afghans a debt of gratitude, and we have a moral obligation to not only get them to safety, but to welcome them here and make them feel at home,” Duckworth said. “We must also continue to engage diplomatically to ensure that the hard-fought gains—especially for Afghan women and girls—are not erased.” In a tweet, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chair Joaquin Castro said “[w]e’ll keep working hard to get folks home and help with resettlement.”
One recently arrived family told The Los Angeles Times that they arrived to the U.S. on July 20 with just two bags containing clothes and paperwork. Sayed Omer Sadat applied for a special visa in 2017 after overseeing the maintenance of U.S. military bases. The family left Afghanistan three days after receiving his document in July, describing to The LA Times how he’d pass through Taliban checkpoints on his way to work, “hoping no one knew he was headed to a military installation in Mazar-i-Sharif.” Like so many others, he worries about family, friends, and neighbors, telling The LA Times that “[w]e are lucky that we left Afghanistan on that day. We can just pray for Afghans left behind.”
"I have no doubt in my mind that we can rise to the occasion,” O’Mara Vignarajah said during the call. “We stand ready to welcome our Afghan brothers and sisters." Human Rights First President Mike Breen said “[w]e have thousands of allies still in danger, many thousands more who are just beginning the long process of rebuilding their lives. We are not done. We will not be done for a long, long time. Take a minute if you need one, friends. Then let’s get back to work.”
Gabe Ortiz
While the U.S. military forces are finally out of Afghanistan after two decades of war, advocates who have been working to evacuate and resettle Afghan allies and their families said during a call Tuesday that their work is only just beginning. "Our message is clear,” said Chris Purdy, Project Manager of the Veterans for American Ideals program at Human Rights First. “August 31 may be the Biden administration's deadline, but it is not ours.”
The Biden administration has informed resettlement refugee agencies—decimated under the previous administration but eager to welcome these families—to prepare to welcome 50,000 people. Americans are also readying: Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service President Krish O’Mara Vignarajah said that 40,000 people have signed up at the organization’s website to volunteer in efforts in the past two weeks. “By comparison, the group gets about a dozen offers during a typical week,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
.......
Advocates during the call expressed concern about resources available to Afghan allies and families after arriving in the U.S. While many are here through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, the federal government has allowed others to enter the U.S. through humanitarian parole—the same process used to allow separated families to reunite here. However, “[t]hose people aren’t entitled to any of the resettlement benefits afforded formal refugees,” The Wall Street Journal said.
“Though Congress allotted $500 million for the administration to provide these people some benefits, resettlement leaders say the money won’t meet all the needs of the 50,000 people they have been told to expect,” the report continued. This means that resettlement agencies also depend on the donations of time and goods from the public, from cash to toiletries to diapers and baby formula—basically anything you’d need when leaving everything behind and starting over.
“We’re going to make it work, no matter how difficult, but I’d be lying to you if I said we aren’t concerned,” HIAS President Mark Hetfield told The Wall Street Journal.
For months, advocates—who had been pleading with the Biden administration to act quickly to evacuate allies to a U.S. territory like Guam—expressed further concern for those left behind. They said their research had identified 118,000 SIV-eligible allies and dependents still in Afghanistan following U.S. withdrawal. The number of allies eligible for protection under expanded guidelines announced earlier this summer is even more significant, at anywhere between 145,000 people, to nearly 1.1 million.
The State Department said in a statement the U.S. is among the nearly 100 nations pledging to continue evacuations from Afghanistan, with “assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from our countries will be allowed to proceed in a safe and orderly manner to points of departure and travel outside the country.” Whether those assurances stand the test of time wait to be seen. In a statement received by Daily Kos, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth said that we “cannot forget the brave Afghans” who remain at risk.”
“Our military and our entire nation owe these Afghans a debt of gratitude, and we have a moral obligation to not only get them to safety, but to welcome them here and make them feel at home,” Duckworth said. “We must also continue to engage diplomatically to ensure that the hard-fought gains—especially for Afghan women and girls—are not erased.” In a tweet, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chair Joaquin Castro said “[w]e’ll keep working hard to get folks home and help with resettlement.”
One recently arrived family told The Los Angeles Times that they arrived to the U.S. on July 20 with just two bags containing clothes and paperwork. Sayed Omer Sadat applied for a special visa in 2017 after overseeing the maintenance of U.S. military bases. The family left Afghanistan three days after receiving his document in July, describing to The LA Times how he’d pass through Taliban checkpoints on his way to work, “hoping no one knew he was headed to a military installation in Mazar-i-Sharif.” Like so many others, he worries about family, friends, and neighbors, telling The LA Times that “[w]e are lucky that we left Afghanistan on that day. We can just pray for Afghans left behind.”
"I have no doubt in my mind that we can rise to the occasion,” O’Mara Vignarajah said during the call. “We stand ready to welcome our Afghan brothers and sisters." Human Rights First President Mike Breen said “[w]e have thousands of allies still in danger, many thousands more who are just beginning the long process of rebuilding their lives. We are not done. We will not be done for a long, long time. Take a minute if you need one, friends. Then let’s get back to work.”
