Afghans fleeing their homeland after the Taliban return to power in 2021 are urging the United States to reconsider its decision to cancel all current refugee resettlement efforts.
On Wednesday, the backlash against Ek continued. Executive order Trump signed it two days ago on his first day in office.
The order calls for the suspension of the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which processes refugees in the country, beginning on January 27.
But the abrupt halt to USRAP has left Afghan refugees — many of whom have already been approved to enter the U.S. — facing instability and the risk of violence.
Mehnoosh Munir, a former medical student and teacher at a language center in Afghanistan, fled to Pakistan after the Taliban closed the school where she worked.
Since taking power, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on women’s rights, even restricting their ability to speak in public.
Munir expressed surprise at Trump’s actions in an article published in The Associated Press on Wednesday. She told the news agency that women would struggle for “survival” under the Taliban regime.
“I did not expect this suspension,” Munir said. “The long waiting period makes us think of very desperate possibilities, such as being sent back to Afghanistan or a long stay in Pakistan as refugees at risk.” waiting till, which is a nightmare for all case holders.”
America owes a lot to Afghans
Others questioned whether the US was abdicating its responsibility to the Afghans who supported its military presence in the country for two decades.
Thousands of Afghans served with the US armed forces and the US-backed government during the country’s two-decade war. After the fall of the US-backed government in August 2021, many feared retaliation by the Taliban and hoped to find safe haven in the US.
“President Trump’s decision to cancel the flights of Afghans and other refugees who were cleared and vetted to come to the U.S. is cruel, ugly and racist,” said Arsh Azizzada, the US-based advocacy organization Afghans for a co-founder of Better Tomorrow told Al Jazeera via text.
“This decision will ensure that Afghans seeking safety under the Taliban’s brutal rule can be targeted, imprisoned, tortured or worse. There is a huge debt, and we will make sure America pays that debt long after this administration is gone.”
Another advocacy group, Afghan USRAP Refugees, published an open letter to Trump and members of the US Congress, demanding action.
“Many of us risked our lives to support the American mission as interpreters, contractors, human rights defenders and allies,” the letter read.
Even across the Afghan border in Pakistan, he warned, refugees faced dangerous conditions.
“In Pakistan, the situation is increasingly dire. Arbitrary arrests, deportations and insecurity add to our woes.
A great demand
An estimated 15,000 Afghans are currently awaiting settlement approval in neighboring Pakistan. Some waited years and spent countless hours navigating the complex bureaucracy of the US immigration system.
Others have traveled to South America to make the perilous journey to the North American-Mexico border, seeking asylum.
The United Nations has Called The situation in Afghanistan is “one of the world’s most urgent crises”. It projects that more than a half million Afghans will need resettlement in 2025.
According to a US State Department report, more than that 160,000 Afghan nationals have arrived in the country since August 2021. Still, advocates criticized former President Joe Biden’s administration for slow-moving admissions decisions.
Trump, who replaced Biden on Monday, campaigned on a platform of stricter restrictions on immigration to the United States. During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, the Republican leader also imposed an entry ban on citizens of several Muslim-majority countries, leading critics to dub the policy the “Muslim ban”.
In Monday’s executive order, Trump essentially defended his actions, portraying America as overwhelmed by the influx.
“The United States lacks the capacity to absorb large numbers of immigrants, and particularly refugees, into our communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans,” the executive order said.
It’s unclear when, or if, USRAP will resume. Trump called for a report on the program at the end of 90 days — and at the end of every 90-day period thereafter, until he determined that “resuming USRAP is in America’s interest.”
The announcement has raised concerns among those in the United States, including military service members, who have family members still in Afghanistan or in refugee camps.
“I just think about it all day,” an Afghan-American soldier with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
His sister lives in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. “I can’t even do my job properly because it’s affecting me mentally.”
