Refugees who had been accredited to journey to the USA earlier than a Jan. 27 deadline suspending America’s refugee resettlement program have had their journey plans canceled by the Trump administration.
1000’s of refugees at the moment are stranded at numerous places across the globe.
The suspension was in an govt order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday. It left open the chance that individuals who had undergone the prolonged course of to be accredited as refugees and permitted to return to the U.S., and had flights booked earlier than that deadline, may nonetheless have the ability to get in below the wire.
However in an e mail reviewed Wednesday by The Related Press, the U.S. company overseeing refugee processing and arrival advised workers and stakeholders that “refugee arrival to the USA have been suspended till additional discover.”
Amongst these affected are the greater than 1,600 Afghans cleared to resettle within the U.S. as a part of this system that the Biden administration arrange after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. That quantity consists of those that labored alongside American troopers through the warfare in addition to members of the family of active-duty U.S. navy personnel.
These Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized energy appealed Wednesday to Trump to exempt them from the order, some saying they risked their lives to assist U.S. troops.
An estimated 15,000 Afghans are ready in Pakistan to be accredited for resettlement within the U.S. by way of an American authorities program. It was set as much as assist Afghans in danger below the Taliban due to their work with the U.S. authorities, media, assist companies and rights teams, after U.S. troops pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, when the Taliban took energy.
There was no rapid remark from Pakistan, the place authorities have urged the world neighborhood to determine the destiny of the 1.45 million Afghan refugees, saying they can’t keep indefinitely.
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“Many people risked our lives to assist the U.S. mission as interpreters, contractors, human rights defenders, and allies,” an advocacy group referred to as Afghan USRAP Refugees — named after the U.S. refugee program — mentioned in an open letter to Trump, members of Congress and human rights defenders.
“The Taliban regards us as traitors, and returning to Afghanistan would expose us to arrest, torture, or dying,” the group mentioned. “In Pakistan, the scenario is more and more untenable. Arbitrary arrests, deportations, and insecurity compound our misery.”
Trump’s order had given the company till Jan. 27 earlier than it started to halt all processing and touring for no less than three months. Now, nonetheless, it seems the timing within the order was moved up. It was not instantly clear what prompted the change.
Refugees are distinct from individuals who come on to the U.S.-Mexico border with the purpose of ultimately in search of asylum within the U.S. Refugees should be residing outdoors of the U.S. to be thought-about for resettlement and are often referred to the State Division by the United Nations.
They endure intensive screening earlier than coming to the U.S. As soon as within the U.S., they’re often paired with a resettlement company that helps them modify to life in America. That features assist discovering a job and get their kids enrolled in class.
Some Afghans are traumatized by suspension
An Afghan lady, Farzana Umeed, and a person, Sarfraz Ahmed, mentioned in an interview on the outskirts of Islamabad that they’re traumatized over the suspension of this system.
“I nearly wept final night time once we heard this information,” Umeed mentioned. She mentioned it’s tough for her to reside in Pakistan, and she or he can’t journey to America both. “Returning to my residence nation additionally means taking an enormous threat. What ought to I do,” she requested, and urged Trump to reverse his determination.
These in exile in Pakistan embody Afghan journalists who have been pressured to flee the Taliban to save lots of their lives, and now face “excessive nervousness below the recurring risk of arbitrary arrest, police harassment and deportation to Afghanistan,” Reporters With out Borders mentioned Wednesday.
The media watchdog urged Pakistan to make sure the safety of the journalists, who say their visa is prolonged just for a month for a $100 price.
In response to the Afghan USRAP Refugees group, flights to the U.S. for a lot of Afghans had been scheduled for January, February and March after they have been interviewed by the Worldwide Group for Migration and U.S. Embassy officers.
“We search the reversal of the ban on the refugee program on humanitarian floor,” mentioned Ahmad Shah, a member of the group, who hoped to go away Pakistan for the USA in March after present process all interviews and medical assessments.
Along with Pakistan, greater than 3,200 Afghans are staying in Albania. A NATO member, Albania first agreed to deal with fleeing Afghans for one yr earlier than they transfer for remaining settlement in the USA, then pledged to maintain them longer if their visas are delayed.
—with information from The Related Press’ Munir Ahmed
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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