Two years after fall of Kabul, tens of thousands of Afghans languish in limbo waiting for US visas 

Afghan refugees hold a rally to demand their U.S. visas to be processed in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 11 August 2023
Follow

Two years after fall of Kabul, tens of thousands of Afghans languish in limbo waiting for US visas 

  • Left with little information, Afghans in Pakistan compare what they hear from US officials about their cases in WhatsApp groups 
  • Pakistan was already home to millions of Afghans and an estimated 600,000 more have surged into the South Asian country 

ISLAMABAD: When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Shukria Sediqi knew her days in safety were numbered. As a journalist who advocated for women’s rights, she’d visited shelters and safe houses to talk to women who had fled abusive husbands. She went with them to court when they asked for a divorce. 

According to the Taliban, who bar women from most public places, jobs and education, her work was immoral. 

So when the Taliban swept into her hometown of Herat in western Afghanistan in August 2021 as the US was pulling out of the country, she and her family fled. 

First they tried to get on one of the last American flights out of Kabul. Then they tried to go to Tajikistan but had no visas. Finally in October 2021, after sleeping outside for two nights at the checkpoint into Pakistan among crowds of Afghans fleeing the Taliban, she and her family made it into the neighboring country. 

The goal? Resettling in the US via an American government program set up to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban because of their work with the US government, media and aid agencies. 




An Afghan refugee attends a rally demanding their U.S. visas to be processed in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023. (AP)

But two years after the US left Afghanistan, Sediqi and tens of thousands of others are still waiting. While there has been some recent progress, processing US visas for Afghans has moved painfully slowly. So far, only a small portion of Afghans have been resettled. 

Many of the applicants who fled Afghanistan are running through savings, living in limbo in exile. They worry that the US, which had promised so much, has forgotten them. 

“What happens to my children? What happens to me?” Sediqi asked. “Nobody knows.” 

During two decades in Afghanistan after its 2001 invasion, the US relied on Afghans helping the US government and military. Afghan journalists went to work at a growing number of media outlets. Afghans, often women working in remote areas, were the backbone of aid programs providing everything from food to tutoring. 

Since 2009, the US has had a special immigrant visa program to help Afghans like interpreters who worked directly with the US government and the military. 

Then, in the waning days of the US presence in the country, the Biden administration created two new programs for refugees, expanding the number of Afghans who could apply to resettle in the US 

The visas, known as P-1 and P-2, are for aid workers, journalists or others who didn’t work directly for the US government but who helped promote goals like democracy and an independent media that put them at risk under the Taliban. 




Afghan refugees hold an indoor rally to demand their U.S. visa to be processed in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 21, 2023. (AP)

The programs were intended to help people like Enayatullah Omid and his wife — Afghans who helped build the country after the 2001 Taliban ouster and were at “risk due to their US affiliation” once the US withdrew. 

In 2011, Omid started a radio station in Baghlan province with the help of the US-based media training nonprofit Internews and funding from the US Agency for International Development. He was the station’s general manager but did everything from reporting on-air to sweeping the floors at night. His wife, Homaira Omid Amiri, also worked at the station and was an activist in the province. 

When the Taliban entered Baghlan on Aug. 9, 2021, Omid said he did one last thing: He burned documents to keep the Taliban from identifying his staff. Then he and his wife fled. 

They stayed at shelters arranged by a committee to protect Afghan journalists until the Taliban shut them down. Internews referred Omid to the US refugee program in the spring of 2022. Told he had to leave Afghanistan for his case to proceed, Omid and his wife went to Pakistan in July 2022. 

Even in Pakistan Omid doesn’t feel safe. Worried about the Taliban’s reach, he’s moved three times. There are police raids targeting Afghans whose visas have run out. As he spoke to The Associated Press, he was getting text messages about raids in another Islamabad neighborhood and wondered how much he should tell his already stressed wife. 

He said America has a saying: Leave no one behind. 

“We want them to do it. It shouldn’t be only a saying for them,” he said. 

The American airlift in August 2021 carried more than 70,000 Afghans to safety, along with tens of thousands of Americans and citizens of other countries — plane after plane loaded with the lucky ones who managed to make their way through the massive crowds encircling Kabul airport. Most gained entry to the US under a provision known as humanitarian parole. 

Many more are still waiting. There are about 150,000 applicants to the special immigrant visa programs — not including family members. A report by the Association of Wartime Allies said at the current rate it would take 31 years to process them all. 

Separately, there are 27,400 Afghans who are in the pipeline for the two refugee programs created in the final days of the US presence in Afghanistan, according to the State Department. That doesn’t include family members, which potentially adds tens of thousands more. But since the US left Afghanistan it’s only admitted 6,862 of these Afghan refugees, mostly P-1 and P-2 visa applicants, according to State Department figures. 

In June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has relocated about 24,000 Afghans since September 2021, apparently referring to all the resettlement programs combined. 

Among the refugee program applicants are about 200 AP employees and their families, as well as staff of other American news organizations still struggling to relocate to the US 

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said the US refugee process in general can be agonizingly slow, and waits of as long as 10 years are common. Furthermore, former US President Donald Trump gutted the refugee system, lowering the annual number of accepted refugees to its lowest ever. 

Other challenges are unique to Afghan immigrants, said Vignarajah. Many Afghans destroyed documents during the Taliban takeover because they worried about reprisals. Now they need them to prove their case. 

“The grim reality is that they’ll likely be waiting for years on end and often in extremely precarious situations,” Vignarajah said. 

In a recent report, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a body created by Congress to oversee government spending in Afghanistan, faulted the various resettlement programs set up for Afghans. 

“Bureaucratic dysfunction and understaffing have undermined US promises that these individuals would be protected in a timely manner, putting many thousands of Afghan allies at high risk,” the report said. 

It also criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the refugee programs, which it said has left Afghans considering whether to leave their country to await processing without “critical information” they need for such a crucial decision. 

In a sign of the confusion surrounding the process, applicants like Omid and his wife were told they had to leave Afghanistan to apply, a costly endeavor involving selling their possessions, going to another country and waiting. They, like many others, ended up in Pakistan — one of the few countries that allows Afghans in — only to discover the US was not processing refugee applications there. 

That changed late last month when the State Department said it would begin processing applications in Pakistan. 

However, Congress has so far failed to act on a bill that seeks to improve efforts to help Afghans still struggling to get to America. 

The State Department declined an AP request for an interview but said in a statement it is committed to processing Afghan refugee visas. In June, Blinken applauded the efforts that have gone into helping Afghans resettle in America but emphasized the work continues. 

At the same time, the Biden administration has made progress in recovering from the Trump-era curtailment of the refugee system. The administration raised the cap on refugees admitted to the US to 125,000 a year, compared to Trump’s 15,000 in his final year in office. It’s unlikely the Biden administration will reach the cap this year, but the number of refugees and Afghans admitted is increasing. 

Shawn VanDiver, who heads a coalition supporting Afghan resettlement efforts called #AfghanEvac, said he doesn’t agree with criticism that the refugee programs are a failure. 

They have gotten off to a “really slow start and there are vulnerable people that are waiting for this much needed relief,” he said. “But I also know that ... from my conversations with government, that there is movement happening to push on this.” 

Left with little information, Afghans in Pakistan compare what they hear from US officials about their cases in WhatsApp chat groups that have organized social media protests demanding swifter US action. 

“Avoid putting our lives in danger again,” one post read. 

Pakistan was already home to millions of Afghans who fled decades of conflict when the Taliban returned to power and an estimated 600,000 more surged into the country. While many had valid travel documents, renewing them is a lengthy and costly process. Raids looking for Afghans with expired visas have heightened tensions. 

Abdul, who declined to give his surname for fear of arrest because his visa has expired, worked as head of security for an aid group in Afghanistan that specialized in economic help for women. The risks were enormous; three colleagues were killed while he worked there. 

One of his last tasks was getting the group’s foreign staff to the airport to escape. The organization stayed open into 2022, when the Taliban detained Abdul for two weeks. After his release, a Taliban member said he could protect his family — if Abdul gave him his daughter in marriage. 

Abdul knew it was time to leave. He, his wife and children fled that night to Iran. Late last year, when they were told their referral to one of the refugee programs had been approved, they went to Pakistan. Since then, there’s been no information. 

Their visas now expired, the family is terrified to leave the house. 

“The future is completely dark,” Abdul said. “I’m not afraid to die, I’m just really worried about the future of my children.” 


South Korea president declares emergency martial law

Updated 03 December 2024
Follow

South Korea president declares emergency martial law

  • The surprise move comes as the ruling and opposition parties continue to bicker over next year’s budget bill
  • Opposition MPs last week approved a significantly downsized budget plan through a parliamentary committee

SEOUL: South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared emergency martial law, saying the step was necessary to protect the country from “communist forces” amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill.
“To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements... I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation.
“With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralyzed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice,” he added.
The surprise move comes as Yoon’s People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party continue to bicker over next year’s budget bill. Opposition MPs last week approved a significantly downsized budget plan through a parliamentary committee.
“Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyze the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order,” Yoon said.
He accused opposition lawmakers of cutting “all key budgets essential to the nation’s core functions, such as combatting drug crimes and maintaining public security... turning the country into a drug haven and a state of public safety chaos.”
Yoon went on to label the opposition, which holds a majority in the 300-member parliament, as “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime” and called his decision “inevitable.”
“I will restore the country to normalcy by getting rid of anti-state forces as soon as possible.”


South Korean president declares emergency martial law, accusing opposition of anti-state activities

Updated 03 December 2024
Follow

South Korean president declares emergency martial law, accusing opposition of anti-state activities

  • Yoon made the announcement during a televised briefing
  • Yoon has struggled to push his agenda against an opposition-controlled parliament

SEOUL: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared an “emergency martial law,” Tuesday accusing the country’s opposition of controlling the parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government with anti-state activities.
Yoon made the announcement during a televised briefing, vowing to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces and protect the constitutional democratic order.” It wasn’t immediately clear how the steps would affect the country’s governance and democracy.
Yoon — whose approval rating has dipped in recent months — has struggled to push his agenda against an opposition-controlled parliament since taking office in 2022.
Yoon’s conservative People Power Party had been locked in an impasse with the liberal opposition Democratic Party over next year’s budget bill. He has also been dismissing calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, drawing quick, strong rebukes from his political rivals.
The Democratic Party reportedly called an emergency meeting of its lawmakers following Yoon’s announcement.


King Charles welcomes Emir of Qatar as state visit begins

Updated 03 December 2024
Follow

King Charles welcomes Emir of Qatar as state visit begins

  • The emir and his wife Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al-Thani arrived at Horse Guards Parade
  • Joined by Prince William and Princess of Wales, Catherine

LONDON: King Charles and Keir Starmer welcomed Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for a state visit to Britain on Tuesday.

The emir and his wife Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al-Thani arrived by car at Horse Guards Parade in London with Prince William and his wife Catherine, who was marking her return to formal state visit duties after undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.

Charles, who is continuing his own treatment for cancer, and the emir inspected the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards while a military band played.

The reception was to be followed by a trip to Westminster where the emir was set to address both chambers of the British Houses of Parliament.

 


Trump says he’ll attend Notre Dame Cathedral reopening celebration in Paris this weekend

Updated 03 December 2024
Follow

Trump says he’ll attend Notre Dame Cathedral reopening celebration in Paris this weekend

  • Trump announced that he will be among them in a post on his Truth Social site Monday evening
  • “It is an honor to announce that I will be traveling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the re-opening of the Magnificent and Historic Notre Dame Cathedral,” he wrote

NEW YORK: President-elect Donald Trump will attend the reopening celebration for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend, his first foreign trip since the election.
The cathedral is set to reopen Saturday after more than five years of reconstruction following a devastating fire in 2019 that engulfed and nearly destroyed the soaring Paris landmark. The ceremonies being held Saturday and Sunday will be high-security affairs, with about 50 heads of state and government expected to attend.
Trump announced that he will be among them in a post on his Truth Social site Monday evening.
“It is an honor to announce that I will be traveling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the re-opening of the Magnificent and Historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which has been fully restored after a devastating fire five years ago,” he wrote. “President Emmanuel Macron has done a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all!”
The trip will be Trump’s first abroad since he won November’s presidential election. He traveled to Scotland and Ireland in May 2023, as a candidate, to visit his local golf courses.
Trump was president in 2019 when a massive fire engulfed Notre Dame, collapsing its spire and threatening to destroy one of the world’s greatest architectural treasures, known for its mesmerizing stained glass.
Trump watched the inferno in horror, along with the rest of the world.
“So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” he wrote on what was then named Twitter, offering his advice to the city.
“Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!” he wrote.
French officials appeared to respond shortly after, noting that “All means” were being used to extinguish the flames, “except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.”
Trump also spoke with Macron and Pope Francis at the time to offer his condolences and said he had offered them “the help of our great experts on renovation and construction.”
Trump and Macron have had a complicated relationship.
During Trump’s first term in office, Macron proved to be among the world leaders most adept at managing the American president’s whims as he tried to develop a personal connection built in no small part on flattery.
Macron was the guest of honor at Trump’s first state dinner and Trump traveled to France several times. But the relationship soured as Trump’s term progressed and Macron criticized him for questioning the need for NATO and raising doubts about America’s commitment to the mutual-defense pact.
As he ran for a second term this year, Trump often mocked Macron on the campaign trail, imitating his accent and threatening to impose steep tariffs on wine and champagne bottles shipped to the US if France tried to tax American companies.
After Trump won another term last month, Macron rushed to win favor with the president-elect. He was among the first global leaders to congratulate Trump — even before The Associated Press called the race in his favor — and beat UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the punch in delivering a congratulatory phone call.
“Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump,” Macron posted on X early on Nov 6. “Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.”
Macron and other European leaders are trying to persuade Trump not to abandon America’s support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s nearly three-year invasion. European leaders hope to convince Trump that a victory by Russia would be viewed as a defeat for the US — and for the incoming president, by extension — hoping to sell him on the need to pursue an end to the war more favorable to Kyiv than he might otherwise seek.
Trump over the weekend announced that he intends to nominate real estate developer Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. The elder Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations.
The reopening of Notre Dame will be an elaborate, multi-day celebration, beginning Saturday.
Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich will preside at a reopening service that afternoon, banging on Notre Dame’s shuttered doors with his staff to reopen them, according to the cathedral’s website.
The archbishop will also symbolically reawaken Notre Dame’s thunderous grand organ. The fire that melted the cathedral’s lead roofing coated the huge instrument in toxic dust. Its 8,000 pipes have been painstakingly disassembled, cleaned and retuned.
Macron will attend and address the VIP guests.
After the service, opera singers Pretty Yende, from South Africa, and Julie Fuchs, from France; Chinese pianist Lang Lang; Paris-born cellist Yo-Yo Ma; Benin-born singer Angelique Kidjo; Lebanese singer Hiba Tawaji and others will perform at a concert Saturday evening, according to the show’s broadcaster, France Télévisions.
On Sunday morning, the Paris archbishop will lead an inaugural Mass and consecration of the new altar.
Nearly 170 bishops from France and other countries will join the celebration, along with priests from all 106 parishes in the Paris diocese. The Mass will be followed by a “fraternal buffet” for the needy.
Ile de la Cité, where the cathedral sits in the middle of the River Seine, will be blocked off to tourists for the events. A public viewing area with room for 40,000 spectators will be set up along the Seine’s southern bank.


Police crack encrypted messaging service used by criminals, Europol says

Updated 03 December 2024
Follow

Police crack encrypted messaging service used by criminals, Europol says

  • The messaging service called MATRIX was discovered on the phone of a criminal
  • “The messages that were intercepted are linked to serious crimes,” Europol said

AMSTERDAM: An encrypted messaging service that was used for international drug and arms trafficking has been taken down by European authorities, Europol said on Tuesday.
The messaging service called MATRIX was discovered on the phone of a criminal convicted for the murder of Dutch celebrity crime reporter Peter R. de Vries in 2021, Europol said.
A large-scale investigation by the Dutch and French authorities managed to intercept the messaging service and monitor activity for three months, leading to the deciphering of more than 2.3 million messages in 33 languages.
“The messages that were intercepted are linked to serious crimes such as international drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and money laundering,” Europol said.
“Authorities were able to monitor the messages from possible criminals, which will now be used to support other investigations.”
The main servers in France and Germany were taken down, with one suspect arrested in France and two in Spain. Homes were also searched in Lithuania, Europol said.