Afghan refugees in the United States. Photo: Getty Images
Almost 1,660 Afghans who have received permission from the US government to resettle in the United States, including family members of active US military personnel, have had their flights cancelled following President Donald Trump’s order to suspend US refugee programmes, media reports say.
Source: The Guardian; Reuters citing the US official and a leading refugee resettlement advocate
Details: Shawn VanDiver, head of the #AfghanEvac coalition of US veterans and advocacy groups and the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported that the group includes unaccompanied minors awaiting reunification with their families in the United States, as well as Afghans who face retribution from the Taliban for fighting on the side of the former US-backed Afghan government.
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Currently, Afghans who have been granted refugee status in the United States are being removed from the lists of flights that were supposed to leave Kabul before April.
The US decision also leaves thousands of other Afghans who have been granted refugee status in the US but have not yet been assigned flights from Afghanistan or neighbouring Pakistan in limbo.
The media outlet recalls that Trump made stricter immigration controls one of the central promises of his 2024 election campaign, leaving the fate of US refugee programmes in limbo.
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Quote from VanDiver: “Afghans and advocates are panicking. I’ve had to recharge my phone four times already today because so many are calling me. We warned them (Trump’s transition team – ed.) that this was going to happen, but they did it anyway. We hope they will reconsider.”
For reference: VanDiver’s organisation is the main coalition working with the US government to evacuate and resettle Afghans in the US since the Taliban took over Kabul when the last US troops left Afghanistan in August 2021 after two decades of war.
Almost 200,000 Afghans were brought to the US by the administration of former President Joe Biden after the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Kabul.
One of dozens of executive orders Trump is expected to sign suspends refugee assistance programmes in the United States for at least four months.
The new White House website states that Trump is “pausing refugee resettlement after communities were forced to take in large and unsustainable groups of migrants, undermining community security and resources.”
The Democratic minority on the House Foreign Affairs Committee criticised this move, stating in a post on X, “This is what abandonment looks like. Leaving vetted Afghan allies at the mercy of the Taliban is disgraceful.”
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