The first batch of Afghan refugees--more than 200 in number, mostly children--who were at risk of facing retribution from the emboldened Taliban reached the United States this week, with US President Biden saying he was proud to welcome them. The US Congress has also passed legislation, allowing additional 8000 visa seekers from Afghanistan in the wake of foreign troops withdrawal and approved $500 million for the visa program from Afghan interpreters, and their families, who worked with the US forces during its 20 years of presence. 

Biden said the flight was “an important milestone as we continue to fulfill our promise to the thousands of Afghan nationals who served shoulder-to-shoulder with American troops and diplomats over the last 20 years in Afghanistan.” 

“I want to thank these brave Afghans for standing with the United States, and today, I am proud to say to them: ‘Welcome home,’” Biden said in a statement on Saturday.

The United States is expected to evacuate more than 18,000 Afghans and it has already withdrawn almost all of its troops from the war-torn country. However, critics blame the Biden administration for poor planning as the timeline for the evacuation drive is very thin now and the fighting has reached to gates of major cities in the country. 

“To date, there is simply no clear plan as to how the vast majority of our allies will be brought to safety,” Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service resettlement agency, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. 
 
Significantly, the US is also in talks with third countries, including Central Asian countries, to temporarily accommodate these refugees. 

Meanwhile, the Czech government also approved a program to help those Afghans who had worked with Czech troops--almost 11,000 Czech troops have had their deployment in Afghanistan--during their stay in NATO missions.

The program is meant for Afghan interpreters and their families which will help in their relocation, an offer of asylum, and financial aid, Czech Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar said. 

As the reports of Taliban war crime are emerging, the pressure is mounting on several NATO countries from human rights groups for the early evacuation of asylum seekers. The UK government has recently fast-tracked the evacuation of Afghan asylum seekers. 

(SAM)