Afghanistan
Afghan police rescue physician from kidnappers' clutch, arrest 8 suspects
Afghan police in a crackdown on kidnappers have rescued a physician and arrested eight people charged with involvement in the abduction, Spokesman for the Taliban-run caretaker government Zabihullah Mujahid said Saturday.
"Medical practitioner Najibullah Sakandar who was abducted a few days ago from Kabul was found and rescued from the kidnappers' clutch late Friday," Mujahid said on social media.
Read: US urged to help more people escape Taliban-led Afghanistan
Police have arrested the eight people in connection with the abduction of the physician, the official added in his message.
Kidnappers in the northern Mazar-i-Sharif city killed a physician after his family failed to pay 800,000 U.S. dollars in ransom for his release a couple of months ago.
The Taliban-run administration has vowed to crack down on the outlaws to ensure law and order in the war-torn Afghanistan.
COVID-19: India supplies 5 lakh more Covaxin doses to Afghanistan
Bharat Biotech on Monday informed that India has supplied another batch of humanitarian assistance consisting of 5,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin to Afghanistan.
Taking to Twitter, Bharat Biotech said, "Today, India supplied the next batch of humanitarian assistance consisting of 5,00,000 doses of COVID vaccine (COVAXIN) to Afghanistan. The same was handed over to Indira Gandhi Hospital, Kabul," reports ANI.
It also informed that another batch of additional 5,00,000 doses would be supplied in the coming weeks.
The last batch of humanitarian assistance consisting of 5,00,000 doses of Covaxin was supplied to Afghanistan on January 1.
READ: Nasal vaccine booster dose may be used with Covaxin
India has committed to provide to Afghan people humanitarian assistance consisting of food grains, one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine and essential life-saving drugs.
Earlier last month, India delivered 1.6 tons of medical assistance to Afghanistan through the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Taliban took over control of Kabul on August 15 and following this the country has been battered by deepening economic, humanitarian and security crises.
READ: Covaxin cleared by UK, relief for Indian students, tourists
A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban have plunged a country already suffering from high poverty levels into a full-blown economic crisis.
Immigrants welcome Afghan refugees, inspired by own journeys
Tram Pham tears up recalling how tough life was at first in the U.S. But she also remembers the joy she felt as a 22-year-old refugee from Vietnam when a nurse spoke to her in her native language and guided her through a medical screening required of new arrivals.
Nearly three decades later, Pham hopes to pay that comfort forward as a registered nurse at the same San Jose, California, clinic that treated her family. The TB and Refugee Clinic at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center is screening people from Afghanistan who began seeking asylum in the U.S. after American troops withdrew from the country in August.
Pham can’t speak Farsi or Pashto. But she can soothe patients stressed out over the job they can’t find or the rent that’s due. The other day, she held the hand of an older Afghan woman as she cried out her fears.
“I can see patients from all over the world come in. I see, you know, Vietnamese patients. I see a lot of refugee patients,” she said. “I see myself.”
The TB and Refugee Clinic joins a vast network of charities and government organizations tasked with carrying out President Joe Biden’s plan to relocate nearly 100,000 people from Afghanistan by September 2022. Nearly 48,000 Afghans have already moved off U.S. military bases and settled in new communities, the U.S. Department of State said in an email, including more than 4,000 in California.
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The operation has been hampered by the need to scale up quickly after steep cutbacks to refugee programs under President Donald Trump. But the community response has been overwhelming and enthusiastic, said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of nine national resettlement agencies.
“We know that resettlement isn’t a weekslong or monthslong process. Success requires years of effort. And so that’s where it’s really important to have strong community ties,” Vignarajah said.
The nonprofit, which operates in at least two dozen states, has resettled roughly 6,000 newly arrived Afghans since summer, including 1,400 in northern Virginia, 350 in Texas, 275 in Washington and Oregon and 25 in Fargo, North Dakota.
The state of Oklahoma has received about half of the 1,800 people it was told to expect, said Carly Akard, spokeswoman for Catholic Charities of Oklahoma City. Akard said that in their rush to escape, many of the refugees arrived without identification.
“They fled and didn’t have anything,” she said.
In San Jose, the clinic is scrambling to hire more people and reallocate staff for the more than 800 people expected in the county through September. Not only is the number a large increase from the 100 people the clinic assessed in all of the last fiscal year, it is uncertain when they will arrive, said health center manager Nelda David.
But David said that won’t stop the staff of roughly three dozen from rolling out the welcome mat at the clinic, founded four decades ago specifically to assist Southeast Asians after the Vietnam War. Most of the nurses, assistants and other staff are immigrants or former refugees themselves, and understand the shock of starting over in a new country.
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Medical interpreter Jahannaz Afshar welcomes Farsi speakers at the front door even before they check in for their first visit. In a windowless office, she explains what to expect over at least four visits as part of a comprehensive health assessment, which includes updating immunizations and checking for infectious diseases. A medical exam is required of all refugees.
But Afshar, who moved from Iran in 2004, also explains cultural differences, such as the American preference for personal space and chitchat. She’ll tell newcomers how to take the bus or use the public library, and reassure them that in the U.S., people help without expectation of getting anything in return.
Most staff members are bilingual, and come from a number of countries, including China, Myanmar, Sierra Leone and Mexico, said Mylene Madrid, who coordinates the refugee health assessment program. But staff can help even without speaking the same language.
An Afghan woman was tense and nervous when she arrived the other day for her first medical exam. By the end of the hourslong visit, however, she was cracking jokes and sharing photos with public health assistant Nikie Phung, who had fled Vietnam decades earlier with her family.
Another new arrival from Afghanistan dropped by the clinic complaining of chest pains but was so anxious she couldn’t elaborate on her symptoms. Pham, the nurse, asked if she could hold her hand. They sat as the woman sobbed, then finally spoke of the stress of having her entire family living in a cramped hotel room.
By then, her pains had receded. Pham noticed that the woman’s daughter and son-in-law were upbeat and more comfortable speaking English. She pulled the daughter aside.
“Would you please spend time with your mom?” she asked her. “Talk to her more.”
Staff members have gone out of their way to connect patients to jobs, furnish empty apartments and tap the broader community for rent and other relief. They’ve stocked diapers for babies and handed out gift baskets at Thanksgiving. During a routine visit, a patient mentioned he needed car repairs for work. Within weeks, the clinic had raised $2,000 to give him.
“Your heart is different,” says Jaspinder Mann, an assistant nurse manager originally from India, of immigrants’ desire to help.
Afshar says she can’t imagine what refugees are going through. The former apparel designer and her husband were not fleeing strife and shootings when they chose to leave Iran. And yet, she too struggled at first.
“And this is one of the things that I always share,” she said. “That even though it’s going to be hard, later you’re going to be happy because ... you’re going to learn so much and you’re going to grow so much.”
At the clinic, she hops on the phone to arrange an eye exam for Mohammad Attaie, 50, a radio technician who fled the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, this summer with his wife, Deena, a journalist, and their daughter. Sana, 10, adores her new school in San Jose but the couple worry about finding work when they can’t speak the language.
Still, seeing people like Afshar and Pham gives them confidence.
“They are successful. They’re working here. Their language skills are good. I am hoping that in less than a year I can stand on my feet,” Deena Attaie said, speaking in Farsi.
Bangladesh to support Afghan people through humanitarian aid package
Bangladesh has decided to support Afghan people through humanitarian aid package in the form of food and medicinal assistance.
While appreciating the OIC for calling for extraordinary Council, Bangladesh has also urged the leaders to intensify cooperation within and beyond OIC in support to the Afghan people.
Read: Islamic world unites to aid desperately poor Afghanistan
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen conveyed this during the 17th Extraordinary Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC on Afghanistan held in Islamabad, Pakistan on Sunday.
The Foreign Secretary led the Bangladesh delegation which includes Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to OIC, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Pakistan and the Director-General of International Organization, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During the Council meeting, Momen expressed deep concern on economic and humanitarian crisis looming on the larger part of the Afghan population due to acute shortage of food, shelter and social services which may further be worsened as winter approaches.
Islamic world pitches ways to aid desperately poor Afghans
Islamic countries scrambled on Sunday to find ways to help Afghanistan avert an imminent economic collapse they say would have a “horrendous” global impact.
The hastily called meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Islamabad ended with a promise to set up a fund to provide humanitarian aid through the Islamic Development Bank, which would provide a cover for countries to donate without dealing directly with the country's Taliban rulers.
In a press conference at the end of the summit, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also described what he called good news from the United States, whose special representative on Afghanistan, Tom West, attended the summit.
He said West met with the Taliban delegation led by the interim foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on the sidelines. Qureshi said West also said he was mandated to “engage ” with the Taliban, that U.S. humanitarian aid to Afghanistan would not carry preconditions and there could be as much as $1.2 billion available through the World Bank in money that could be released to Afghanistan.
There was no immediate response from the U.S. to Qureshi's statements.
There has been a growing call for the U.S. and other countries to release upward of $10 billion in frozen Afghan assets. However, previously the U.S. has said at least some of that money is tied up in litigation involving the survivors and the families of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks carried out by al Qaida while being harbored in Afghanistan by the Taliban during their previous rule.
Sunday's summit brought together dozens of foreign ministers as well as the special representatives on Afghanistan of major powers, including China, the U.S. and Russia. It also included the U.N. undersecretary general on humanitarian affairs, and the president of the Islamic Development Bank Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, who offered several concrete financing proposals. He said the IDB can manage trusts that could be used to move money into Afghanistan, jumpstart businesses and help salvage the deeply troubled economy.
At the outset of the summit, several participating nations called for a quick opening of the country's banking system and collectively, with the United Nations and international banking institutions, to provide assistance to Afghanistan. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan directed his remarks to the U.S., urging Washington to drop preconditions for releasing desperately needed funds and restarting Afghanistan's banking systems.
Khan seemed to offer Taliban a pass on their limits on education for girls, urging the world to understand “cultural sensitivities” and saying human rights and women's rights meant different things in different countries. Still other speakers, including the OIC chairman Hussain Ibrahim Taha, emphasized the need for the protection of human rights, particularly those of women and girls.
“This gathering is about the Afghan people,” said Qureshi, who warned that without immediate aid, Afghanistan was certain to collapse. The consequences would be “horrendous," he said, not just in Afghan lives lost to starvation and disease — but also what would most certainly create a mass exodus of Afghans. He predicted chaos would spread, allowing terrorism and the drug trade to flourish.
Martin Griffiths, the U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, warned that Afghanistan cannot survive on donations alone. He urged donor countries to show flexibility, allowing their money to pay salaries of public sector workers and support “basic services such as health, education, electricity, livelihoods, to allow the people of Afghanistan some chance to get through this winter and some encouragement to remain home with their families."
Beyond that, Griffiths said, “we need constructive engagement with the de facto authorities to clarify what we expect from each other.”
Afghanistan’s teetering economy, he added, requires decisive and compassionate action, or "I fear that this fall will pull down the entire population."
Griffiths said families simply do not have the cash for everyday purchases like food and fuel, as prices soar. The cost of fuel is up by around 40%, and most families spend 80% of their money just to buy food.
He rattled off a number of stark statistics.
“Universal poverty may reach 97% of the population of Afghanistan. That could be the next grim milestone,” he warned. “Within a year, 30% of Afghanistan’s GDP (gross domestic product) could be lost altogether, while male unemployment may double to 29%."
Next year the U.N. would be asking for $4.5 billion in aid for Afghanistan — it's single largest humanitarian aid request, he said.
In what appeared to be a message to the Taliban delegation, Qureshi and subsequent speakers, including Taha, emphasized the protection of human rights, particularly those of women and girls.
In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Muttaqi said that Afghanistan’s new rulers were committed to the education of girls and women in the workforce.
Yet four months into Taliban rule, girls are not allowed to attend high school in most provinces, and though women have returned to their jobs in much of the health care sector, many female civil servants have been barred from coming to work.
At the summit's conclusion Qureshi said the OIC agreed to appoint a special representative on Afghanistan. The 20 foreign ministers and 10 deputy foreign ministers in attendance also agreed to establish a greater partnership with the United Nations to get help to desperate Afghans.
They participants also emphasized the critical need to open Afghanistan’s banking facilities, which have been largely closed since the Taliban takeover on Aug. 15. The Taliban has limited withdrawals from the country’s banks to $200 a month.
“We collectively feel that we have to unlock the financial and banking channels because the economy cannot function and people cannot be held without banking services,” Qureshi said.
Pakistan to rally Muslim countries to help Afghanistan
Pakistan is rallying Muslim countries to help Afghanistan stave off an economic and humanitarian disaster while also cajoling the neighboring country's new Taliban rulers to soften their image abroad.
Several foreign ministers from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation are meeting in Islamabad on Sunday to explore ways to aid Afghanistan while navigating the difficult political realities of its Taliban-run government, Pakistan's top diplomat said Friday.
The new Taliban administration in Kabul has been sanctioned by the international community, reeling from the collapse of the Afghan military and the Western-backed government in the face of the insurgents' takeover in mid-August.
The OIC meeting is an engagement that does not constitute an official recognition of the Taliban regime, said Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
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He said the message to the gathering on Sunday is: “Please do not abandon Afghanistan. Please engage. We are speaking for the people of Afghanistan. We’re not speaking of a particular group. We are talking about the people of Afghanistan.”
Qureshi said major powers — including the United States, Russia, China and the European Union — will send their special representatives on Afghanistan to the one-day summit. Afghanistan's Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will also attend the conference.
Afghanistan is facing a looming economic meltdown and humanitarian catastrophe in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover. Billions of dollars’ worth of the country's assets abroad, mostly in the U.S., have been frozen and international funding to the country has ceased.
The world is also waiting before extending any formal recognition to the new rulers in Kabul, wary the Taliban could impose a similarly harsh regime as when they were in power 20 years ago — despite their assurances to the contrary.
In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Muttaqi said that Afghanistan's new rulers were committed to the education of girls and women in the workforce.
Yet four months into Taliban rule, girls are not allowed to attend high school in most provinces and though women have returned to their jobs in much of the health care sector, many female civil servants have been barred from coming to work.
However, security has improved under the Taliban, with aid organizations able to travel to most parts of Afghanistan, including areas that for years were off-limits during the war, said a senior humanitarian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The World Health Organization and U.N. agencies have warned of the humanitarian crisis facing Afghanistan and its 38 million people. Hospitals are desperately short of medicines, up to 95% of all households face food shortages, the poverty level is soaring toward 90% and the afghani, the national currency, is in free fall.
Pakistan has been at the forefront in pressing for world engagement in Afghanistan. Qureshi said Friday he has warned in talks with many foreign ministers — including with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington — that a total collapse in Afghanistan will hurt efforts to fight terrorism and trigger a massive exodus from the country.
Refugees will become economic migrants, he added, meaning they would not want to stay in neighboring countries of Pakistan and Iran, but will try to reach Europe and North America.
Qureshi also warned that if Afghans are left without help, militant groups such as al-Qaida and the regional Islamic State affiliate will regroup and flourish amid the chaos.
The OIC has leverage because of its nature as an Islamic organization and Qureshi expressed hope the summit will also be an opportunity for the world's Muslim nations to press upon the Taliban the imperative of allowing girls to attend school at all levels and for women to return to their jobs in full.
Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Wilson center, said OIC nations could do more, suggesting they work through their religious scholars and have them interact directly with the Taliban.
For now, it would be difficult for the West to engage with the Taliban, Kugelman said, adding that such an interaction would be tantamount to admitting defeat in the 20-year war.
For the Taliban, it would be the “final satisfaction of being able to engage ... from the standpoint of victor,” he said.
“The Taliban defeated the West ... their powerful militaries and caused them to suffer through a chaotic and humiliating final withdrawal," he said. “For the West to turn around and bury the hatchet with the Taliban, this would amount to a legitimization of its defeat."
Taliban Govt reaches out to India seeking visas for Afghan students stuck in Afghanistan
The Taliban government has reached out to the Indian government twice in a row, this time to grant Indian visas to Afghan students so that they could complete their studies in India. The students are stuck in Afghanistan since India cancelled their visas in August shortly after the Taliban took over Kabul, reports NEWS18.
The Taliban had earlier approached New Delhi to start direct flights between the two countries.
Noor Zahid Paiman, a final year Afghan student of BSc Computer Science at Sharda University, said he is stuck in Kabul for over six months now. Noor told News18 over phone, “We met foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi two times and raised the matter with him. He said he reached out to New Delhi regarding it.”
Read: Taliban-ruled Afghanistan stares at major humanitarian crisis: speakers
Noor went back to Kabul in June during the second wave of Covid-19 in India when all educational institutions, including his university, switched to the online mode of teaching. In just two months, Taliban took over his country and things changed forever. With the Covid situation improving, classes switching back to offline mode, Noor along with 2,500 other Afghan students are still unable to fly to India to pursue their studies as there are no direct flights between the two countries and their visas stand revoked.
On August 25, Noor received a communication from the Indian side saying, “In view of the recent developments in Afghanistan and streamlining of the visa process by introduction of the e-Emergency X-Misc visa for Afghan nationals desirous of travelling to India, your above mentioned visa (details concealed) has been cancelled with immediate effect. If you desire to travel to India, you may apply for an e-Emergency X-Misc visa.” Noor said the Afghan students have applied for the new category of visa, but none of the students have been able to get one.
Another student of Pune University, Waris Himmat, is also unable to pursue studies back in India. He said the Indian Embassy in Kabul is not working and he along with 200 students, travelled to Iran to get the visa from the Indian Mission there. But he was told that he will need to apply for the new category of visa meant for Afghan nationals. Himmat told News18 that he requested the Indian Mission in Tehran to grant him the visa so that he can attend the classes in person.
Meanwhile Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), which gives scholarship to Afghan students, said, “ln case, the university/institute has agreed to the physical presence of the students, they may apply for the Indian e-visa. The benefits available under the ICCR scholarship would be available upon joining the institutes as per past practice.”
After the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August, New Delhi had issued 200 e-Emergency X-Miscellaneous Visas to Afghan nationals, the external affairs ministry informed the Rajya Sabha. On August 17, as a humanitarian gesture, India introduced “e-Emergency X-Miscellaneous visa” for the distressed residents who wanted to leave the country.
Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay to India also raised the matter in an exclusive interview to News18 last week. He said, “Students stranded in Afghanistan are pursuing higher education in various institutions in India. They are enrolled in various universities in Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and other states. The highest assistance to us from India has been in the field of education. Suspension of their visas was not in good spirit.”
Read:Despite mistrust, Afghan Shiites seek Taliban protection
“I appeal to the Government of India to allow these students to come to India and complete their education. Those students have not become Taliban or joined Talibani forces overnight, so suspension of their visas sends is a wrong signal. The loss of an academic year is the biggest loss for students. India should consider this as a humanitarian issue and take steps to resolve this crisis. I hope in the coming days, the problem is resolved,” he added.
India gave 200 emergency e-visas to Afghan citizens, says Rajya Sabha
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, India has granted 200 emergency e-visas to that country’s citizens, the government told Parliament on Wednesday, reported The Indian Express.
“In view of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, the Government of India has started an ‘e-Emergency X-Misc visa’ for a period of 6 months for Afghan nationals. …As on 24.11.2021, 200 e-Emergency X-Misc visas have been issued,” Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
“Further, Stay visa is granted to Afghan nationals staying in India keeping in view present situation in that country. Presently, 4,557 Afghan nationals are staying in India on Stay Visa after extension of their visas,” he added.
The Stay Visa/ Residential Permit is granted for a year at a time by authorities on a case-to-case basis after Home Ministry approval.
The ministry had been asked questions related to Afghan refugees living in India.
Also read: Thousands of Afghans seek temporary US entry, few approved
“India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereon. All foreign nationals (including Asylum seekers) are governed by the provisions contained in the Foreigners Act, 1946, The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and The Citizenship Act, 1955 and rules and orders made there under. The data of foreign nationals who enter into the country without valid travel documents in a surreptitious and clandestine manner, claiming to be refugees or asylum seekers is not maintained centrally,” the minister said.
In the wake of a humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, with thousands scrambling to leave the country after the takeover, India had in August introduced an emergency e-visa category for Afghan nationals to “fast-track” their applications. These visas are valid for six months and granted only after security clearance, sources said.
In a statement issued then, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said that after a review of provisions “in view of the current situation in Afghanistan”, a “new category of electronic visa called e-Emergency X-Misc Visa” has been started for Afghan nationals.
“India already provides X-Miscellaneous (X-Misc) category visas to foreigners whose purpose of entry does not match any prescribed category. In the case of Afghanistan, the e-visa facility was not extended to nationals of that country until then. However, since our mission is now shut in Afghanistan, people were allowed to get online visas,” an MHA official said.
The MHA policy document on X-Misc visa states that they “may be granted only with single entry and for the specific duration taking into account the purpose of visit”.
Also read: US spl envoy discusses Afghanistan with top Indian officials
“If the visa is granted for a period of stay exceeding 180 days, the foreigner will have to register himself/ herself with the FRRO/ FRO concerned within 14 days of arrival. This visa will be non-extendable and non-convertible to any other type of visa,” it states.
India has in the past granted long-duration visas to Afghan nationals facing persecution in their country, including a large number that fled after the first Taliban takeover and during the two decades of conflict that followed.
In these cases, the Stay Visa/ Residential Permit is granted for a year at a time by authorities on a case-to-case basis after MHA approval. These permits are location-specific with movement of beneficiaries restricted to the state/UT where they are permitted to stay. Any relaxation in this norm requires prior permission.
These visas are not granted to economic immigrants, and are subject to police reporting every year at the place where the Afghan national is allowed to stay.
Notably, Afghanistan falls under the Prior Reference Category (PRC) of countries for grant of visa, which means Afghan nationals have to be cleared by MHA for any visit. Others in this category include nationals of Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, foreigners of Pakistani origin and stateless persons.
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan stares at major humanitarian crisis: speakers
The situation in Afghanistan remains fluid and Bangladesh should exercise “extreme caution” especially in regard to countering violent extremism, speakers have said at a discussion
With 100 days of the Taliban in power, Afghanistan seems to be on the brink of yet another major humanitarian crisis having implications on regional countries, they said, adding that the ripple effect of the Taliban takeover will be felt all across the region, including Bangladesh.
The Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August sparked tensions regarding the possible implications regional nations will face, they observed.
Read: US spl envoy discusses Afghanistan with top Indian officials
The aforementioned sentiments were echoed by Major General ANM Muniruzzaman, President of Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) and Zafar Sobhan, Editor of Dhaka Tribune in their opening remarks at the BIPS-Dhaka Tribune Roundtable titled, 'Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan: Regional and International Implications.'
The discussion, held in a city hotel on Tuesday, was attended by ambassadors, scholars, security experts, and youth representatives from various disciplines.
Muniruzzaman emphasized the dire situation in Kabul with the ongoing economic meltdown.
He said, “The coming winter months are going to be the toughest with a high chance of mass starvation, among other complications.”
Zafar Sohban said it had been 100 days since the Taliban took over in Afghanistan, and it was important to take a deeper look at the impact of this situation, including how it may affect Bangladesh.
Muniruzzaman discussed how a failed Afghanistan state will bear consequences not just for the region but international security as well.
“Therefore, an economically stable Kabul is in the best interest of the region,” he added.
When discussing the effect of the takeover for Bangladesh, Muniruzzaman discussed how the Afghan Taliban’s influence is very prominent in the violent extremism in Bangladesh and that the new takeover has inspired a new wave of people in the country, especially the youth.
The first keynote speaker, Major General Muhammed Firdaus Mian (retd), former chairman of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), laid emphasis on impact on violent extremism and its possible spillovers for the region.
Thousands of Afghans seek temporary US entry, few approved
More than 28,000 Afghans have applied for temporary admission into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons since shortly before the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan and sparked a chaotic U.S. withdrawal, but only about 100 of them have been approved, according to federal officials.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has struggled to keep up with the surge in applicants to a little-used program known as humanitarian parole but promises it’s ramping up staff to address the growing backlog.
Afghan families in the U.S. and the immigrant groups supporting them say the slow pace of approvals threatens the safety of their loved ones, who face an uncertain future under the hard-line Islamic government because of their ties to the West.
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“We’re worried for their lives,” says Safi, a Massachusetts resident whose family is sponsoring 21 relatives seeking humanitarian parole. “Sometimes, I think there will be a day when I wake up and receive a call saying that they’re no more.”
The 38-year-old U.S. permanent resident, who asked that her last name not be used for fear of retribution against her relatives, is hoping to bring over her sister, her uncle and their families. She says the families have been in hiding and their house was destroyed in a recent bombing because her uncle had been a prominent local official before the Taliban took over.
The slow pace of approvals is frustrating because families have already paid hundreds if not thousands of dollars in processing fees, says Chiara St. Pierre, an attorney at the International Institute of New England in Lowell, Massachusetts, a refugee resettlement agency assisting Safi’s family.
Each parole application comes with a $575 filing charge, meaning USCIS, which is primarily fee-funded, is sitting on some $11.5 million from Afghans in the last few months alone, she and other advocates complain.
“People are desperate to get their families out,” said St. Pierre, whose nonprofit has filed more than 50 parole applications for Afghan nationals. “Do we not owe a duty to the people left behind, especially when they are following our immigration laws and using the options they have?”
Victoria Palmer, a USCIS spokesperson, said the agency has trained 44 additional staff to help address the application surge. As of mid-October, the agency had only six staffers detailed to the program.
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Of the more than 100 approved as of July 1, some are still in Afghanistan and some have made it to third countries, she said, declining to provide details. The program typically receives fewer than 2,000 requests annually from all nationalities, of which USCIS approves an average of about 500, according to Palmer.
Part of the challenge is that humanitarian parole requires an in-person interview, meaning those in Afghanistan need to travel to another county with an operating U.S. embassy or consulate after they’ve cleared the initial screening. U.S. officials warn it could then take months longer, and there’s no guarantee parole will be granted, even after the interview.
Humanitarian parole doesn’t provide a path to lawful permanent residence or confer U.S. immigration status. It’s meant for foreigners who are unable to go through the asylum or other traditional visa processes, but who need to leave their country urgently.
The backlog of parole requests comes on top of the more than 73,000 Afghan refugees already evacuated from the country as part of Operations Allies Welcome, which was focused on Afghans who worked for the U.S. government as interpreters and in other jobs.
Most have arrived in the country and have been staying on military bases awaiting resettlement in communities across the country, though about 2,000 still remain overseas awaiting clearance to enter the U.S., according to Palmer.
But advocates question some of USCIS’s recent decisions for Afghan humanitarian parole, such as prioritizing applications from those already living in other countries. They say that approach is at odds with the program’s purpose of helping those most at risk.
The Biden administration should instead focus on applications from women and girls, LGBTQ people and religious minorities still in the country, said Sunil Varghese, of the New York-based International Refugee Assistance Project.
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It could also dispense with some of the financial documentation required for applicants and their sponsors, since Congress has passed legislation making Afghan evacuees eligible for refugee benefits, said Lindsay Gray, CEO of Vecina, an Austin, Texas-based group that trains attorneys and volunteers on immigration matters.
Palmer didn’t directly address the critiques but said the agency, in each case, determines if there’s a “distinct, well-documented reason” to approve humanitarian parole and whether other protections are available. USCIS also considers whether the person already has U.S. ties, such as a family member with legal status or prior work for the U.S. government, among other factors.
In the meantime, Afghans in the U.S. have little choice but to wait and fret.
Bahara, another Afghan living in Massachusetts who asked her last name be withheld over concerns for her family, says she’s been wracked with guilt for her decision to leave her country to attend a local university.
The 29-year-old boarded a plane on Aug. 15 just hours before the Taliban swept into the capital of Kabul, leading to one of the largest mass evacuations in U.S. history.
“It was my dream, but it changed completely,” said Bahara, referring to enrolling in a U.S. master’s degree program. “I couldn’t stop thinking about my family. I couldn’t sleep the first few weeks. All I did was cry, but it didn’t help.”
Bahara said her family is worried because Taliban officials have been paying unannounced visits to people like her father who worked with the U.S. government after the militant group was originally ousted from power by the U.S. following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
An American family is now sponsoring her family for humanitarian parole, giving Bahara hope even as she grieves over her country’s current situation.
“I cannot believe how everything just collapsed,” said Bahara, who founded a children’s literacy program in Afghanistan. “All the achievements and hard work just added up to zero, and now people are suffering.”
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Baktash Sharifi Baki, a green-card holder who has been living in the U.S. since 2014, was compelled to take more drastic measures as Afghanistan quickly unraveled this summer.
The Philadelphia resident, who served as an interpreter for the U.S. government, traveled back in August in the hopes of shepherding his wife, daughter, mother and godson to safety.
But the family wasn’t able to board any of the final commercial flights out of Kabul. Baki has appealed to the U.S. government to allow them to board one of the charter flights that have recently resumed.
Meanwhile, a friend in Louisiana has offered to serve as the family’s sponsor for a humanitarian parole application, even covering the costly fees himself.
Baki and his family are staying for now with relatives in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. But he worries his modest cash savings is dwindling just as the region’s harsh winter sets in and Afghanistan’s economic crisis is deepening.
“We are really facing a bad situation here,” Baki said. “We need to get out.”