On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced that it has prepared to evacuate Afghan interpreters and translators who helped the U.S. in the 20 years of war. The evacuation will be done via flights, although the destinations of these allies are unknown and their safety until they get on these flights, is still in question.
According to the White House, the “Operation Allies Refuge” flights out of Afghanistan will be available first for the special immigrant visa applicants who are already in the process of applying for residency in the US. The fights will begin in the last week of July.
Jen Psaki, the press secretary of the White House, cited security concerns and refused to answer the questions about the details on the number of Afghans expected to be among those evacuated in the first flights or where the evacuated will be located.
“The reason that we are taking these steps is because these are courageous individuals,” Psaki said. “We want to make sure we recognize and value the role they’ve played over the last several years,” she added. She reiterated that the White House is working with Congress on legislation to streamline the application process.
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On Wednesday itself, the president of the US Joe Biden met with Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller, and it is after the meeting that the news of evacuation has emerged. Psaki also added that Biden wanted to thank Miller (who stepped down from his position as the top US Commander) for conducting an orderly and safe drawdown of US troops.
Miller had earlier, addressed the reporters saying “a civil war is certainly a path that can be visualized if this continues on the trajectory it’s on right now.”
The pressure on Biden has been put on by both sides in order to design a plan to evacuate those who helped the Afghan military before the troop withdrawal the next month.
As per the reports, the White House has begun briefing lawmakers on the outlines of their plans last month itself. Thousands of Afghans have worked for the United States. These ‘allies’, as well as their family members, are already in the process of special immigrant visas.
An estimated 18,000 Afghans have worked for the U.S. as interpreters, drivers and other positions and have thus, applied for visas and await their applications to be processed.
It is said that the Biden administration is also working on identifying a third country or a US Territory to host the Afghans while their applications are under process. Reports say that number of locations have been considered in this regard, including military installations both abroad and in the continental United States.
John Kirby, the Press Secretary of the Pentagon, said that the Pentagon has identified an unspecified number of overseas locations as “potential candidates,” although no final decisions have been made, so far.
The president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, has said that the Biden administration’s evacuation plan remains unknown. It also remains unclear that how many of those outside the capital of Kabul will be evacuated by the administration, given Taliban has successfully captured most of the rural areas.
“Unfortunately, there are still far too many questions left unanswered, including who exactly and how many people are eligible for evacuation. … How will those outside the capital access safety?” said Vignarajah, whose group has helped resettle thousands of Afghans in the U.S.
“And to what countries will they be evacuated? We have serious concerns about the protection of our allies’ human rights in countries that have been rumoured as potential partners in this effort,” added Vignarajah.
The administration has weighed on using State Department-chartered commercial aircraft and not military aircraft, a source who wanted to maintain anonymity said.
The official also added that if the State Department requests military aircraft, the U.S. military would be ready to assist. Although, the Pentagon has said as of Wednesday that no such requests for assistance have been made by State.
The State Department has said that in the month of March, the US Embassy in Kabul had issued 299 special immigrant visas, while 356 were issued in April and 619, in the month of May. While the last week Biden had said that 2,500 special immigrant visas have been approved since January.