President Biden Must Act Immediately to Protect Vulnerable Afghans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2021
Contact: Timothy Younger | tyoung@lirs.org | 443-257-6310

Washington D.C. – The Biden administration has relocated roughly 7,000 individuals from Kabul to numerous locations, together with almost 1,800 Americans or authorized everlasting residents as of August 19. Studies from the bottom point out a continuation of unstable circumstances, together with Taliban checkpoints limiting entry to the airport in violation of worldwide legislation, inadequate crowd management contributing to a number of deaths, and misguided denials of entry to the airport for authorized everlasting residents.

Regardless of an elevated presence of army personnel and consular officers on the airport in Kabul, evacuations haven’t reached the estimated capability of 5,000 to 9,000 individuals per day as outlined by Pentagon officers. Thus far, the Biden administration has did not publicly talk locations for Particular Immigrant Visas (SIV) candidates, Precedence 1 (P-1) refugees, and Precedence 2 (P-2) refugees, nor has it specified the way it will guarantee and uphold humane circumstances and authorized rights of these evacuated.

The next is a press release by Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a nationwide refugee resettlement company helping within the relocation and resettlement of Afghan allies and refugees:

“The administration’s fast precedence should be a drastic improve in evacuation flights, whether or not they’re army or business. There isn’t a excuse for even a single empty seat when tens of 1000’s of lives are on the road. On the identical time, it should leverage each doable means to safe secure passage for all those that want to flee to succeed in the airport. At this juncture, one misstep within the streets of Kabul may very well be a literal demise sentence.

“We can not in good conscience tie a life-or-death humanitarian operation to the present August 31 timeline except we act extra swiftly. Our authorities made a dedication; abandonment is just not an choice. We should proceed this lifesaving work till the mission is fulfilled. If political will matches army may, the U.S. can nonetheless implement the boldest evacuation in trendy historical past. However that window of alternative is simply inches away from closing.

“Make no mistake – the administration’s failure to heed the decision of veterans and advocates months in the past has put our nation on this unconscionable place. It can not let harmless Afghans die by paperwork. The American individuals have resoundingly declared that they won’t stand for the mass homicide of our Afghan allies. All eyes are on President Biden as he determines the enduring legacy of our nation as one which retains its sacred phrase, or abandons its buddies of their darkest hour.”