Afghan crisis and evacuation efforts: US speaks more than it does
The US has so far taken-in 1,592 Afghan refugees since the fall of Kabul, while Pakistan has sheltered 1,438,432 Afghan refugees and Iran has sheltered 780,000 refugees
As the Taliban tightened their grip on Afghanistan at a shockingly swift pace last week, the United States (US) and its allies have been facing a mounting pressure to evacuate and temporarily house at-risk Afghans who worked for the US government and the allied forces.
While the US declared "war on terrorism" in Afghanistan and lead the allied forces, now that the two decades long war has ended, the US is one of the countries that is taking-in the least number of refugees.
Earlier, President Biden had announced that US would withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 31 August. However, the chaos in Kabul has raised question whether the deadline would be extended. On Monday, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen warned that there will be "consequences" if the US delays withdrawal of troops.
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Prior to the Taliban advance, US officials said 15,000 Afghans had already relocated to the US under the Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) programme. US officials have said the evacuations will continue, and three military bases in the US are prepared to accommodate up to 22,000 evacuees.
The US has also outsourced some of its refugee operations to other countries. The US has evacuated, and facilitated the evacuation of, approximately 48,000 people since an intense airlift started on 14 August, reports the BBC, citing the White House.
Most refugees from Afghanistan left the country on foot, crossing borders into neighboring Pakistan or Iran. In terms of number of refugees taken-in since the Taliban took control, Pakistan and Iran stand at top positions; followed by Germany, according to The Conversation.
Pakistan has sheltered 1,438,432 Afghan refugees, while Iran has sheltered 780,000 refugees.
Germany has sheltered 147,994 refugees. The US has so far taken-in 1,592 Afghan refugees since the fall of Kabul; that number is set to rise to 3,500 in the coming weeks under "Operation Allies Refuge," with some going to a US military base in Virginia to finalise their paperwork and others directly to US hosts.
As of 22 August, some 5,800 US troops were working to evacuate US military, American citizens and Afghans who are approved for SIV.
Last week, Reuters reported that President Joe Biden's administration has been holding secret talks with more countries than previously known in a desperate attempt to secure deals to temporarily house at-risk Afghans who worked for the US government.
US officials said countries were hesitant to take in the Afghans because of concerns about the quality of security vetting and health screening for Covid-19 before they were allowed to fly. The Biden administration was exploring having Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan take in thousands of applicants, but that effort has made little progress.A deal to house about 8,000 Afghans in Qatar, which hosts a large US military base, has been close for weeks, but a formal agreement has yet to be announced.
The reluctance of some countries has prompted the administration to appeal to others that may be willing to help if Washington provides some assistance, officials said. The United States has offered economic and political concessions to Kosovo for taking in several thousand Afghans, but there is concern in Washington about its ability to house the Afghans, sources said.
