The US State Department’s office overseeing the resettlement of Afghans has been ordered to prepare for closure in April this year, a media report said on Wednesday.
Reuters quoted a US official as saying the move could deny up to an estimated 200,000 people new lives in America, including family members of Afghan-American US military personnel.
Children cleared to reunite with their parents, relatives of Afghans already admitted and tens of thousands of Afghans who worked for the US government during the 20-year war are among those who could be turned away if the office is shut.
“Shutting this down would be a national disgrace, a betrayal of our Afghan allies, of the veterans who fought for them, and of America’s word,” remarked Shawn VanDiver, founder of #AfghanEvac, the main coalition of veterans and advocacy groups that coordinates resettlements with the US government.
The Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) was set up during the chaotic US pullout from Afghanistan in August 2021 as a temporary effort to relocate to the US the Afghans who .worked for the Americans during the war.
It became permanent in October 2022, expanded to Afghans with refugee status, and has helped resettle some 118,000 people, the report added.
The options for shuttering CARE are being prepared for Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, a former US special forces soldier who fought in Afghanistan are among those slated to make a final decision.
The evacuation and resettlement operations have been stalled since Trump, who launched a promised immigration crackdown after taking office in January, paused refugee programme and foreign aid that funded flights to the US for Afghans cleared for resettlement.
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