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)
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Updated 11 August 2023
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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.” 


US official says Trump not signing G7 statement on Israel-Iran de-escalation

Updated 5 sec ago
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US official says Trump not signing G7 statement on Israel-Iran de-escalation

  • Canadian and European diplomats said G7 attendees are continuing discussions on the conflict at the summit in Canada, which ends on Tuesday

CALGARY, Alberta: A US official said on Monday that President Donald Trump would not sign a draft statement from Group of Seven leaders calling for de-escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict.
The draft statement, seen by Reuters, also commits to safeguarding market stability, including energy markets, says Iran must never have a nuclear weapon, and that Israel has the right to defend itself.
Canadian and European diplomats said G7 attendees are continuing discussions on the conflict at the summit in Canada, which ends on Tuesday.

 


Anti-domestic violence groups are suing over the Trump administration’s grant requirements

Updated 17 June 2025
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Anti-domestic violence groups are suing over the Trump administration’s grant requirements

  • The groups say the requirements, which Trump ushered in with executive orders, put them in “an impossible position”

Seventeen statewide anti-domestic and sexual violence coalitions are suing President Donald Trump’s administration over requirements in grant applications that they don’t promote “gender ideology” or run diversity, equity and inclusion programs or prioritize people in the country illegally.
The groups say the requirements, which Trump ushered in with executive orders, put them in “an impossible position.”
If they don’t apply for federal money allocated under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, they might not be able to provide rape crisis centers, battered women’s shelters and other programs to support victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. But if the groups do apply, they said in the lawsuit, they would have to make statements they called “antithetical to their core values” — and take on legal risk.
In the lawsuit filed in US District Court in Rhode Island on Monday, the coalitions said that agreeing to the terms of grants could open them to federal investigations and enforcement actions as well as lawsuits from private parties.
The groups suing include some from Democratic-controlled states, such as the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, and in GOP-dominated ones, including the Idaho Coalition against Sexual and Domestic Violence.
The groups say the requirements are at odds with federal laws that require them not to discriminate on the basis of gender identity, to aid underserved racial and ethnic groups, and to emphasize immigrants with some programs and not to discriminate based on legal status.
The US Department of Justice, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, did not respond to a request for comment.
The suit is one of more than 200 filed since January to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive orders. There were similar claims in a suit over anti-DEI requirements in grants for groups that serve LGBTQ+ communities. A judge last week blocked the administration from enforcing those orders in context of those programs, for now.


Nigerian state signs peace pact with criminal gangs: official

Updated 16 June 2025
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Nigerian state signs peace pact with criminal gangs: official

  • Dozen bandit kingpins met with local officials to renounce violence. With no ideological leaning, the bandits are motivated by financial gains
  • As a mark of goodwill, the bandits surrendered weapons and released 17 hostages, with the promise to free more people they were holding

KANO, Nigeria: Authorities in Nigeria’s northwestern Katsina state struck a peace deal at the weekend with criminal gangs to try to end years of violence, a government official said Monday.
Katsina is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorized by criminal gangs that the locals refer to as bandits.
The gangs raid villages, kill and abduct residents as well as torch homes after looting them.
The gangs maintain camps in a huge forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna states in the northwest region and Niger state in the country’s central zone and have carried out mass kidnappings of students from schools in recent years.
On Saturday, a dozen bandit kingpins met with local officials and community leaders in the town of Danmusa, where they renounced violence and pledged to turn a new leaf, Nasiru Mu’azu, Katsina state internal commissioner said.
“There was a peace meeting between 12 bandit leaders and the local community leaders in Danmusa where the bandits renounced their criminal activities and committed to peace,” Mu’azu said.
The bandits initiated the meeting, he said. “The community welcomed the overtures and agreed to a peace deal as long as the bandits are genuinely interested in peace,” he said.
As a mark of goodwill, the bandits surrendered weapons and released 17 hostages, with the promise to free more people they were holding.
Authorities in Katsina had earlier ruled out peace deals after the criminal gangs reneged on peace negotiations and returned to crime.
With no ideological leaning, the bandits are motivated by financial gains but their increasing alliance with jihadists from the northeast has been raising concern among authorities and security analysts.
In 2023, Katsina state governor Dikko Umar Radda established Katsina Community Watch Corps, comprising around 2,000 vigilantes to assist the military and police in fighting the bandits.
“We have been fighting the bandits for the past two years and the state governor has reiterated he will not negotiate from a position of weakness,” Mu’azu said.
“But since they on their own came forward and extended the olive branch, we have to give them that opportunity.”
In November last year, neighboring Kaduna state, which has rejected negotiation with bandits, signed a peace accord with the criminal gangs terrorizing Birnin-Gwari district.


Hunger crisis deepens in global hotspots as famine risk rises, UN warns

Updated 16 June 2025
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Hunger crisis deepens in global hotspots as famine risk rises, UN warns

  • Conflict, economic shocks, and climate-related hazards blamed for harsh conditions in the worst-hit areas

ROME: Extreme hunger is intensifying in 13 global hot spots, with Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali at immediate risk of famine without urgent humanitarian intervention, a joint UN report warned on Monday.

The “Hunger Hotspots” report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme blamed conflict, economic shocks, and climate-related hazards for conditions in the worst-hit areas.

The report predicts food crises in the next five months.

It called for investment and help to ensure aid delivery, which it said was being undermined by insecurity and funding gaps.

“This report is a red alert. We know where hunger is rising and we know who is at risk,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. 

“Without funding and access, we cannot save lives.”

For famine to be declared, at least 20 percent of the population in an area must be suffering extreme food shortages, with 30 percent of children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.

In Sudan, where famine was confirmed in 2024, the crisis is expected to persist due to conflict and displacement, with almost 25 million people at risk.

South Sudan, hit by flooding and political instability, could see up to 7.7 million people in crisis, with 63,000 in famine-like conditions, the report said.

In Gaza, Israel’s continued military operations and blockade have left the entire population of 2.1 million people facing acute food insecurity, with nearly half a million at risk of famine by the end of September, the report said.

In Haiti, escalating gang violence has displaced thousands, with 8,400 already facing catastrophic hunger, while in Mali, conflict and high grain prices put 2,600 people at risk of starvation by the end of August.

Other countries of high concern include Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, and Nigeria.

“Protecting people’s farms and animals to ensure they can keep producing food where they are, even in the toughest and harshest conditions, is not just urgent — it is essential,” said FAO Director General QU Dongyu.

Some countries, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, and Lebanon, have improved and have been removed from the FAO and WFP’s Hunger Hotspots list.

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday it was drastically scaling back its global humanitarian aid plans because of the “deepest funding cuts ever” — leaving tens of millions of people facing dire straits.

OCHA said it was seeking $29 billion in funding for 2025 compared to the $44 billion requested initially in December, in a “hyper-prioritized” appeal.

“Brutal funding cuts leave us with brutal choices,” OCHA chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.

“All we ask is 1 percent of what you chose to spend last year on war. But this isn’t just an appeal for money it’s a call for global responsibility, human solidarity, and a commitment to end the suffering.”

In late April, while visiting a hospital in Kandahar in Afghanistan, Fletcher warned: “Cutting funding for those in greatest need is not something to boast about ... The impact of aid cuts is that millions die.”

With 2025 nearly halfway through, the UN has received only $5.6 billion out of the $44 billion sought initially for this year — a mere 13 percent.

In total, the original plan covered more than 70 countries and aimed to assist nearly 190 million vulnerable people.

Even so, that plan acknowledged there were 115 million people the UN could not reach.

“We have been forced into a triage of human survival,” Fletcher said on Monday.

The mathematics “is cruel, and the consequences are heartbreaking.”

“Too many people will not get the support they need, but we will save as many lives as we can with the resources we are given,” he said.

Aid will now be directed so that it can “reach the people and places facing the most urgent needs,” with those in “extreme or catastrophic conditions” as the starting point, said Fletcher.

“This will ensure that limited resources are directed where they can do the most good — as quickly as possible,” the statement said.


Norway’s king makes symbolic visit to Svalbard, in coveted Arctic

Updated 16 June 2025
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Norway’s king makes symbolic visit to Svalbard, in coveted Arctic

  • the region around Svalbard has gained in geopolitical and economic importance as tensions mount between Russia and the West, not least with the ice sheet receding
  • Interest in the Arctic has intensified since US President Donald Trump’s threats this year to annex Greenland, which he says the US needs for reasons of national security

OSLO: Norway’s King Harald made a highly symbolic visit on Monday to the country’s Svalbard archipelago, located in an Arctic region coveted by superpowers like the United States, Russia and China.
Situated halfway between the European continent and the North Pole, the region around Svalbard has gained in geopolitical and economic importance as tensions mount between Russia and the West, not least with the ice sheet receding.
Interest in the Arctic has intensified since US President Donald Trump’s threats this year to annex Greenland, which he says the US needs for reasons of national security.
“It was especially appropriate to come this year,” the 88-year-old monarch said after stepping off the royal yacht with his wife Sonja in Longyearbyen, Svalbard’s main town which is home to 2,500 people.
“We have seen increased attention being paid to the Arctic and Svalbard. This brings both challenges and opportunities,” he added.
The king was in Svalbard to take part in celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the entry into force of an international treaty that put the Svalbard archipelago under Norwegian rule.
Drawn up in Paris in 1920, the treaty gives the citizens of the nearly 50 signatories — including China and Russia — an equal right to exploit the archipelago’s natural resources.
As a result, Russia is able to maintain two settlements, including a mining community, in the small village of Barentsburg where a Lenin statue stands and Soviet flags are regularly flown — all in a NATO country.
China has meanwhile defined itself as a “near-Arctic state” and has displayed a growing interest in the region.
“When the royal yacht ‘Norge’ drops anchor with the royal standard atop the mast, this emphasizes, even more than King Harald’s words could say, that Norway is taking care of its rights and assuming its responsibilities,” said Lars Nehru Sand, a commentator at public radio NRK.
“The king is here to show that this is ours,” he said.