By Mohammad Raashid
Afghanistan has been in turmoil for decades, with frequent waves of violence, conflict, and political instability causing immense suffering for its people. The latest crisis emerged in August 2021, when the Taliban seized control of the country, triggering a mass exodus of Afghans who fear for their safety and future under the hard-line Islamist regime. Many of these Afghan refugees have fled to neighboring Pakistan, seeking refuge and assistance from the international community.
Since August 2021, deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions have led tens of thousands of people, including more than 100,000 urban Afghans, to enter Pakistan. Humanitarian situation, seeking asylum, seeking resettlement status abroad.
In August 2021, the United States announced an expansion of the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program to allow more Afghans and their families to enter the United States who work for the United States government. Additionally, the U.S. government has committed to working with international partners to relocate vulnerable Afghans, including women, children and other vulnerable groups.
Similarly, the European Union has announced that it will provide humanitarian aid and assistance to Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, including Pakistan, to deal with the influx of Afghan refugees. Some European countries have also announced resettlement plans for Afghan refugees, but the details of these plans vary from country to country.
It is prominent point that the refugee resettlement process can be complex and time consuming, and it may take time for the promised assistance to be fully implemented. Furthermore, not all Afghans who wish to leave their country are eligible for resettlement to another country.
Due to their long stay in Pakistan, these refugees face many problems. They allege deliberate delays in processing resettlement applications by the United States and other relevant Western embassies, as well as a lack of assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Islamabad. Some migrant families want to be registered with UNHCR as refugees, while others want asylum-seeker status. For the latter, Pakistan excludes refugee status.
The Biden administration figures there are now well over 150,000 Afghan special immigrant visa applicants trying to escape Afghanistan, a significant surge as the Taliban crack down on former Afghans who aided the U.S. war effort in the war-torn country and are still waiting on American entry papers.
The data offers a glimpse into how many Afghans remain in limbo awaiting support from the U.S. government ,18 months after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Although the U.S. State Department has briefed the number of applications to congressional offices behind the scenes, the reality is about 20,000 applicants higher than publicly provided estimates by the agency, according to independent advocacy groups tracking the matter.
Over the course of the two-decade long war, many Afghans aided the U.S. war effort, including translators, in exchange for the promise of visas for their families to go to the United States. The special immigrant visa (SIV) program, remains mired in bureaucratic backlogs. And the system is still inundated with applications, with more than 7x more applicants in the pipeline now than in the summer of 2021.
“We believe the number of people with SIV and P-1, P-2 he is between 250,000 and 300,000 or more,” said Sean Van Diver, president and CEO of Afghan Evac. We are trying to resettle Afghan civilians out of the country. P-1 and P-2 visas are temporary US travel authorizations. Groups seeking to resettle Afghans believe the number of Afghans wanting to leave the country last year was around 50,000.
A surge in visa applications came as the Republican-led House Foreign Relations Committee opened hearings ` over an oversight of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 at Hamid Karzai International Airport. 13 US soldiers and more than 100 Afghans were killed by IS suicide bombers. “In the chaos that unfolded in Kabul in August 2021, the U.S. State Department was of little help,” said Rep. He said in his opening statement at the hearing. Veterans occupying Abbey Gate, site of a suicide bombing, and several civilian groups seeking to evacuate Afghans out of the country. “It was our creed to leave no one behind. We broke that promise.”
Refugees in Pakistan face a difficult situation. Many of these refugees, who were homeless before the National Press Club of Islamabad, were deported last year and remain in various parts of Islamabad in dire conditions, living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. They do not have basic needs such as food, water, medical care, and education for their children.
Visa delays for Afghan refugees who arrived in Pakistan following the Taliban takeover are certainly cause for concern, and it is understandable that many people are concerned and frustrated with the situation. It is important to remain patient, and we need the pledges of the United States and Europe to ensure that they live in safety and dignity. It is also important that the international community continue to provide aid and assistance to Afghan refugees currently residing in Pakistan and other neighboring countries while they await visa processing.
This could include access to education, health care and other basic needs, as well as addressing the root causes of displacement and conflict in the region.
Among these Afghan refugees are many journalists awaiting visas from the United States and Europe, and the weather in Pakistan is mostly harsh for them, apart from food, security and medical facilities. It says it belongs to a region with low temperatures. Afghanistan, such as B. Ghazni, Badakhshan, Herat, etc.
In Islamabad, a media worker for Afghan media group Zakia, she came to Pakistan alone after her mother and her brother fled to Iran after the Taliban took over in August 2021. She also belongs to the Hazara community in Ghazni, said she felt unsafe in Islamabad because of her loneliness and was disappointed with the actions of US and European officials in Islamabad regarding delays in visa processing.
As another example, a media worker from Afghanistan’s Roydad News said that despite the necessities of life, children need education, and as of December 2021, we live in Islamabad and our children said they could not attend school.
However, it is also important that the United States and the European Union prioritize processing visas for Afghan refugees who urgently need assistance. These refugees face a difficult and uncertain future, and it is vital that the international community does all it can to support them and provide them with the support they need.
The United States and the European Union have made commitments to help Afghan refugees, and it is critical that we honor these commitments in a timely and effective manner. In this way, they can build trust among Afghan refugees and demonstrate their commitment to upholding the values of compassion, generosity and solidarity.
Some of these refugees have threatened to commit suicide if they do not issue their visas on time, while others, through their living relatives, have been sent to the US embassies, UN offices, and European Union offices in various locations.
It is important for the international community to prioritize the processing of visas for Afghan refugees who are in urgent need of assistance. These refugees are facing a difficult and uncertain future, and it’s crucial for the US and other countries to follow through on their commitments to support them in a timely and effective manner.
It’s also crucial for the international community to continue to provide support and assistance to Afghan refugees who are currently living in Pakistan and other neighboring countries, as they wait for their visas to be processed.
In conclusion, the situation of Afghan refugees stuck in Pakistan waiting for SIV visas is a humanitarian crisis that demands urgent attention and action from the international community. The US and other countries must prioritize the processing of visas and provide adequate support to these refugees, who are facing immense hardship and uncertainty. It’s only by working together with compassion, generosity, and solidarity that we can alleviate their suffering and ensure their well-being.
About Author
Mohammad Raashid is senior journalist, has experienced of working in several international news organisations. As an international journalist, he worked in several countries especially, US, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He extensively covered war on terror for different international media.
