Trump halts resettlement programme, leaving 1,600 Afghan refugees in limbo
The people involved worked with the United States in Afghanistan and had already received approval for resettlement. The programme, which grants a Special Immigrant Visa, was established in 2009 and covers the family members of selected people. The day before Trump's inauguration, 200 Afghans made it in time to leave the Philippines, where they had been moved for final paperwork.
Washington, D.C. (AsiaNews) – The flights of about 1,660 Afghans who had already received approval for transfer to the United States were cancelled yesterday and today following President Donald Trump's decision to suspend refugee resettlement programmes for at least four months.
The people involved include unaccompanied minors awaiting family reunification and Afghan nationals who fear Taliban retribution for working with the US military, said Shawn VanDiver, founder of a veterans' group dedicated to working with the US government to evacuate Afghans.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the change in policy, explaining that the names of those already authorised for resettlement were removed from the passenger lists of a series of flights scheduled until April, including 200 people who had obtained US citizenship after joining the US military.
On the White House website, now under new management, the page dedicated to President Trump's America-first priorities reads: “The President is suspending refugee resettlement, after communities were forced to house large and unsustainable populations of migrants, straining community safety and resources.”
Trump's decision leaves out in the cold thousands of more refugees who had received approval for resettlement, but had not been assigned flights, many stranded in Afghanistan and Pakistan, at risk of forced repatriation due to the latter’s expulsion policies.
On Sunday, a day before Trump's inauguration, nearly 200 Afghans who had received regular visas from the US embassy in the Philippines managed to reach the United States, as part of an agreement signed in August 2024 between Washington and Manila to expedite the procedures for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV).
This programme was established in 2009 "to resettle Afghans who had worked on behalf of the United States" for at least one year starting in 2001, which can also be made available to family members of the selected people.
According to Kanishka Gangopadhyay, spokesman for the US embassy in the Philippines, 60 per cent of the Afghans who left Manila in recent days were underage.
After US withdrawal from Kabul in 2021, the Biden administration welcomed almost 200,000 Afghans, but thousands of refugees remain stranded in countries in the region, including Pakistan.
As of July 2024, Islamabad had extended the residence permits issued by UNHCR to 1.45 million registered Afghans by one year, although human rights groups estimate that the total number of refugees in the country exceeds two million.
In addition, Pakistan launched a repatriation programme in October 2023 for undocumented Afghans, which also affected legal refugees.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, at least 813,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan despite the risks associated with the Taliban regime.
Thousands of more Afghans found refuge in Iran, where they face discrimination and legal obstacles. Two days ago, the Norwegian Refugee Council reported the forced repatriation of 3,000 Afghans in a single day.
In all of 2024, 750,000 were expelled, but Iran has announced that it wants to increase the figure up to 2 million by March 2025.
Afghans also account for 95 per cent of prisoners held in Iran, according to aid organisations. The Taliban authorities recently announced an agreement with Tehran for the return of 1,500 detainees, but no further details were provided.
International agencies estimate that nearly 23 million people in Afghanistan – more than half of the population – are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 15 million who suffer from acute food insecurity.
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02/11/2023 17:07
