840,000 Afghans who’ve applied for key US resettlement program still in Afghanistan, report says

REBECCA SANTANA
Associated Press
September 1, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 840,000 Afghans who applied for a resettlement program aimed at people who helped the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan are still there waiting, according to a report that lays out the challenges with a program intended to help America’s allies in the two-decade long conflict.

The report released Thursday by the State Department’s inspector general outlines steps the department took to improve processing of special immigrant visas for Afghans. But two years after the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power, challenges remain.

The visa program was started in 2009 to help Afghans who worked side-by-side with Americans and faced significant risks for doing so. A similar program exists for Iraqis. Both programs have been plagued by criticism that cases move much too slowly, leaving applicants in dangerous limbo.

The State Department estimates that as of April of this year more than 840,000 applicants for the special visa program and their family members remain in Afghanistan, the report said. Not everyone who applies is accepted; the State Department noted that about 50% of applicants do not qualify when their applications are reviewed at a key stage early in the process.

The department also said since the start of the Biden administration in January 2021 through Aug. 1 of this year it’s issued nearly 34,000 visas for the applicants and their family members, which it said was a substantial increase from previous years.

The report said the department has hired more staff to process applications, coordinated with the Pentagon to verify applicants’ employment, and eliminated some of the steps required of applicants. But, the report said, there was more it could do. For example, the report noted that a key position overseeing the special immigrant visa process has seen frequent turnover and vacancies.

 

840,000 Afghans who’ve applied for key US resettlement program still in Afghanistan, report says
read more

Islamic Emirate Committed to Implementation of Qisas: Deputy Supreme Judge

In an interview with TOLOnews, he denied the existence of a desert court by the officials of the interim government.

The deputy of the Supreme Court, Abdul Malik Haqqani said that the Islamic Emirate is committed to the Implementation of Qisas (an Islamic term interpreted to mean retaliation in kind).

In an interview with TOLOnews, he denied the existence of a desert court by the officials of the interim government.

“Implementation of hudud (an Islamic method of punishment) is God’s order and the Quran’s. The Islamic Emirate doesn’t listen to illegitimate reactions,” he said.

Haqqani said that many former employees and attorneys of the republic are working in the Supreme Court.

“Those people who were in the court during the republic, they were the attorneys, most of them are in our formation,” he said.

Regarding addressing the cases of the Shia citizens, he said: “Many Afghan people are Hanafi school Muslims. The judicial system cannot accept division due to some minorities. Islam has given this right to the Shia brothers that if they have any dispute, we can solve it within the Hanafi school of Islam.”

Islamic Emirate Committed to Implementation of Qisas: Deputy Supreme Judge
read more

Afghans in US struggle with uncertainty while congressional reforms stall

Reuters

\s

WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Farzana Jamalzada fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, fearful that her work with the U.S. government would put her in danger. She found refuge in the U.S. and moved to New York City where she secured a job with a charity organization that helped pay for rent and other necessities.

But her work permit – and that of her husband Farhad – expired at the end of August, leaving them in limbo for weeks or more as they wait for an immigration interview related to their application for permanent residence.

“We really don’t have a lot of savings,” she said. “If we lose our insurances or our benefits, what should we do? Health insurance is very, very expensive here.”

The struggle with immigration paperwork is common for the more than 70,000 Afghans who were evacuated to the U.S. since 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome. Many Afghans, including Jamalzada and her husband, received “humanitarian parole,” which let them live and work in the U.S. for an initial two-year period. In June, President Joe Biden’s administration extended the parole for an additional two years, but the status remains temporary.

A bipartisan coalition of U.S. lawmakers, veterans and advocates are pushing for Congress to create a direct path to permanent residence and eventual citizenship for Afghans under a bill known as the Afghan Adjustment Act. But the legislation has not gained traction in the Republican-led House of Representatives and remains stalled in the Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow majority.

For Afghans who entered the U.S. via humanitarian parole, figuring out the path to permanent status can be challenging, according to Danilo Zak, associate director of policy and advocacy at Church World Service, a group that assists refugees.

“There’s a good number of Afghans who simply can’t afford or can’t find immigration assistance,” Zak said.

Unlike some others, Jamalzada and her husband do have a path to permanent residence. Their work assisting the U.S. government made them eligible to apply for a Special Immigrant Visa, available to translators, interpreters and others who assisted the U.S. during its two-decade military operation.

But the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan started so suddenly that Jamalzada was forced to flee the country before her visa was fully processed, she said.

To obtain permanent residence, informally known as a green card, the couple must attend a government interview on Sept. 12, leaving them without the right to work for nearly two weeks.

Jamalzada said she hopes Congress will provide a more direct path to permanent status for Afghans so other friends and family already in the U.S. can feel more secure.

“You never know what’s gonna happen to you,” she said.

Reporting by Josephine Walker; Editing by Ted Hesson and Daniel Wallis

Afghans in US struggle with uncertainty while congressional reforms stall
read more

Anas Haqqani: Islamic Emirate Open to Interact With World

Speaking at the exhibition, Haqqani emphasized the need to strengthen the forces of the Islamic Emirate.

Anas Haqqani, a prominent member of the Islamic Emirate, said that the Islamic Emirate is open for interaction with the world.

Haqqani said that the Islamic Emirate even declared the end of the war with those who invaded Afghanistan, while speaking at an exhibition of remnants of war equipment from the UK, the Soviet Union, and the US that was held in the province of Khost.

“We announced the end of the war and opened the arms of interaction to the entire world, even when those who attacked us did not respect the dignity of these people, and shed holy blood,” he said.

Speaking at the exhibition, Haqqani emphasized the need to strengthen the forces of the Islamic Emirate.

He also said it important to provide religious and contemporary education in the country.

“Now is the time to build this country, it is the time to bring together hearts. After that, we should have the same conveniences as other developed nations. Our devoted army should have modern weaponry, we should have our own products, and the next generation should get both religious and modern education,” Haqqani said.

This Islamic Emirate official highlighted the Islamic Emirate’s willingness to interact with the world, while earlier, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that disengagement with the “Taliban” will create a “bigger chaos.”

Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Al Thani said: “We strongly believe that disengaging with the Taliban will create a bigger chaos and will create a vacuum in the country … we kept encouraging all the parties to continue engaging, but we believe that unfortunately after the withdrawal and Taliban assumed power over there, there was an absence of a clear roadmap for the way forward for Afghanistan,” he said.

Anas Haqqani: Islamic Emirate Open to Interact With World
read more

Who wants to fly over Taliban-held Afghanistan? New FAA rules allow it, but planes largely avoid it

BY JON GAMBRELL

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the United States has begun easing rules that could allow commercial airlines to fly over the country in routes that cut time and fuel consumption for East-West travel.

But those shortened flight routes for India and Southeast Asia raise questions never answered during the Taliban’s previous rule from the 1990s to the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

How, if at all, do you deal with the Taliban as they block women from schools and jobs, and engage in behavior described by United Nations experts as potentially akin to “gender apartheid?” Can airlines manage the risk of flying in uncontrolled airspace over a country where an estimated 4,500 shoulder-launched anti-aircraft weapons still lurk? And what happens if you have an emergency and need to land suddenly?

“There’s no ATC service across the entire country, there’s a seemingly endless list of surface-to-air weaponry they might start shooting at you if you fly too low, and if you have to divert then good luck with the Taliban,” the group wrote in an advisory, using an acronym for air traffic control.

Still, the possibility of overflights resuming would have a major impact on carriers.

Though landlocked, Afghanistan’s position in central Asia means it sits along the most direct routes for those traveling from India to Europe and America. After the Taliban takeover of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, civil aviation simply stopped, as ground controllers no longer managed the airspace. Fears about anti-aircraft fire, particularly after the 2014 shootdown of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, saw authorities around the world order their commercial airliners out.

In the time since, airlines largely curve around Afghanistan’s borders. Some travel south over Iran and Pakistan. Other flights rush through Afghan airspace for only a few minutes while over the sparsely populated Wakhan Corridor, a narrow panhandle that juts out of the east of the country between Tajikistan and Pakistan, before continuing on their way.

But those diversions add more time to flights — which mean the aircraft burns more jet fuel, a major expense for any carrier. That’s why a decision in late July by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration caught the industry’s eye when it announced flights above 32,000 feet (9,750 meters) “may resume due to diminished risks to U.S. civil aviation operations at those altitudes.”

The FAA, which oversees rules for America-based airlines, referred questions about what fueled the decision to the State Department. The State Department did not respond to requests for comment. However, a State Department envoy has met multiple times with Taliban officials since the U.S. and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Taliban officials likewise did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press over the lifting of the restrictions.

For now, outside of Afghan and Iranian carriers, it does not appear that any airline is taking chances over the country. Part of that comes from the risk of militant fire, as Afghanistan has been awash in aircraft-targeting missiles since the CIA armed mujahedeen fighters to fight the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Afghanistan also may still have Soviet-era KS-19 anti-aircraft guns, said Dylan Lee Lehrke, an analyst at the open-source intelligence firm Janes.

The FAA says it believes flights at or above 32,000 feet remain out of reach of those weapons, even if fired from a mountain top.

United Airlines runs a direct flight to New Delhi from Newark, New Jersey, that uses the Wakhan Corridor and could be shortened by an overflight.

“In accordance with current FAA rules, United operates Newark to New Delhi flights over a small section of Afghanistan where air traffic control is provided by other countries,” United spokesman Josh Freed told the AP.“ We do not plan to expand our use of Afghan airspace at this time.”

Virgin Atlantic flies over the corridor for its New Delhi flights as well. The United Kingdom has yet to change its guidance telling carriers to stay out of nearly all of Afghan airspace. Virgin Atlantic said it makes “ongoing dynamic assessments of flight routings based on the latest situation reports and always following the strict advice set out by the U.K.”

American Airlines and Air India also use the Wakhan Corridor route. Those carriers did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite the lack of interest now, airlines in the past used the route heavily. A November 2014 report from the International Civil Aviation Organization noted that from near-zero flights in 2002, overflights grew to over 100,000 annually some 12 years later. Before the Taliban takeover, the government charged each flight $700 in fees for flying over the country — which could be a significant sum of cash as Afghanistan remains mired in an economic crisis.

And there is precedence for collecting overflight fees and holding them. After the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, authorities ended up releasing some $20 million in frozen overflight fees to Afghanistan’s fledging government.

In the Taliban’s telling, however, they already are profiting from the limited overflights they see. Private Afghan television broadcaster Tolo quoted Imamuddin Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Transportation and Aviation Authority Ministry, as saying that Afghanistan had earned more than $8.4 million from overflight fees in the last four months.

“Any flight which is crossing Afghan airspace should pay $700,” Ahmadi said. “As the flights increase, it benefits Afghanistan.”

The ministry also said it received the money from the International Air Transport Association, a trade association of the world’s airlines. However, IATA told the AP in a statement that its contract with Afghanistan to collect overflight fees “has been suspended since September 2021” to comply with international sanctions on the Taliban.

“No payments have been made since that date,” it said.

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez in Islamabad contributed to this report.

 

Who wants to fly over Taliban-held Afghanistan? New FAA rules allow it, but planes largely avoid it
read more

Victims of Foreign Forces’ Strikes in Afghanistan Demand Justice

Families demanded justice from international institutions, especially human rights institutions.

Families of those killed in airstrikes by foreign troops in Afghanistan said that during the previous 20 years many civilians have been killed and injured.

Families demanded justice from international institutions, especially human rights institutions.

One of the villages that was a target of night operations, airstrikes, and missile assaults by foreign troops for the past twenty years is Qala-e-Ander, which is located on the Kabul-Kandahar highway in Maidan Wardak province.

According to local residents, nearly 300 people died in this village during various operations of foreign forces.

“Foreign forces attacked our house, my brothers were martyred, our house was destroyed, my mother was injured, my uncle’s house was destroyed. They attacked and bombarded the village, our fellow villagers were martyred and injured,” said Nik Mohammad, who lost two of his brothers in the operation of foreign forces in 2015.

“Eight people were martyred and one was injured, it is known to everyone. See their pictures. They did not deserve to die,” said Gul Bibi, a victim’s mother.

The targeting of civilians by foreign troops, according to some family members of the victims, is a crime for which justice should be served by international courts and human rights organizations.

“They should come and give us our rights. They should see our orphans and martyrs. They should be held accountable. They should see our houses,” said Nazar Mohammad, a resident of Maidan Wardak.

“They came with a lot of horror. Lots of atrocities happened in the last twenty years. We ask the international court to pay our compensation and hand them over to the law,” said Malik Shahzad, another resident of Maidan Wardak.

Victims of Foreign Forces’ Strikes in Afghanistan Demand Justice
read more

Afghan Refugees in Pakistan Criticize Delay in Their Immigration Cases

Maryam Sadat, a citizen of Afghanistan, committed suicide on Wednesday in Islamabad.

Afghan immigrants in Pakistan criticized the delay of their immigration cases.

Immigrants from Afghanistan said that the Pakistani military has mistreated them for the past two years and that their future is uncertain.

This situation has caused some immigrants to commit suicide.

Maryam Sadat, a citizen of Afghanistan, committed suicide on Wednesday in Islamabad.

“Three of our young people have lost their lives in the last two months due to the lack of attention of the immigrant-receiving countries and their false promises,” said Mir Ahmad Rauf, the head of the Council of Afghan Immigrants in Pakistan.

“Afghan immigrants are struggling with mental health issues. If the international community does not pay attention to their cases, a great humanitarian disaster will occur in Pakistan,” said Zahir Bahand, a journalist.

Some Afghan immigrants once again complained about the mistreatment of Pakistani police.

“The immigrants are facing many problems due to not having Immigration cards, and the military detains them,” said Malik Awal Khan Miakhail, the head of migrants in the South Zone Council.

The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) said that the Afghan embassy in Islamabad is in talks with Pakistani authorities to solve the problems of Afghan migrants.

According to Abdul Rahman Rashid, deputy minister of Refugees and Repatriation, citizens of the country are arrested in Pakistan due to lack of legal documents.

“We have attachés there, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs representatives are there, and we communicate through the consulates. The Afghans who were detained there were released by the attachés of the Ministry of Refugees and the Foreign Ministry,” Rashid told TOLOnews.

Based on the data of the MoRR, nearly 3 million citizens of the country are currently migrants in Pakistan.

Afghan Refugees in Pakistan Criticize Delay in Their Immigration Cases
read more

Contract Signed for 7 Mines Worth More Than $6.5 Billion: Ministry

The contract for seven mines worth more than $6.5 billion was signed on Thursday in the presence of the deputy PM for economic affairs.

The acting Minister of Petroleum and Mines Shahabuddin Delawar speaking to the press at a contract-signing ceremony for the extraction and processing of 7 major mines said that there is complete transparency in the mining contracts, and that illegal mining and smuggling have been prevented.

The contract for seven mines worth more than $6.5 billion was signed on Thursday in the presence of the deputy PM for economic affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and other officials of the Islamic Emirate.

The acting minister of Petroleum and Mines also said that gold mines in Takhar province, with an area of 12km square kilometers will be handed over to the China-Afghanistan Company with Zarawar Afghanistan Private Company, and $310 million will be invested in it.

According to Delawar, the second block mine of Mes Aynak in Logar, with an area of 240 square kilometers, has been handed over to Turia, a private company—the company is expected to invest $411 million.

Delawar added that the first section of the Ghoryan iron mine in Herat province has been handed over to Watan Darakhshan Company, in which $2.8 billion will be invested.

The second block of the Goryan iron mine in Herat has been handed over to Sahil Middle East Mining and Logistics Company, Dara-e-Noor, an Afghan company, and Epcol, a Turkish company, in which $874 million will be invested.

The third block of the Ghoryan iron mine has been handed over to Shamsh, an Afghan company, with  GBM and AD Resources, British companies, in which $573 million will be invested.

The fourth block of the Ghoryan iron mine has been handed over to Bakhtar Steel Company, with Ehya Sepahan and Parsian Iranian companies—the companies will invest $1.17 billion.

Also, a lead mining contract in Tulak district of Ghor province has been handed over to ‘Afghan Invest’ company and Epcol a Turkish company. $537 million will be invested in the mine.

Contract Signed for 7 Mines Worth More Than $6.5 Billion: Ministry
read more

Biden Lauds Service of ‘Generations of Brave Women and Men’ in Afghanistan

The statement the US is the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.

US President Joe Biden, on August 21, the second anniversary of the end of the US troop pullout from Afghanistan, said that the United States ended nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan.

In a statement from President Biden on the “Second Anniversary of Ending the Afghanistan War,” released by the White House, Biden stated that US will also continue to support the Afghan people.

The statement the US is the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.

“Two years ago, the United States ended nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan— the longest war in American history. Today, we pause to remember the selfless service of generations of brave women and men over the course of the conflict—who, time and time again, sacrificed their own safety and security for that of their fellow Americans. That includes the 2,461 US service members who made the ultimate sacrifice, and 20,744 of their brother-and-sisters-in-arms who were wounded in action. We have demonstrated that we do not need a permanent troop presence on the ground in harm’s way to take action against terrorists and those who wish to do us harm,” the statement reads.

“The good thing was that before they left Afghanistan, the government did not fall, the process for recognition was in place, and the economic situation was favorable, which contributed to Afghanistan’s development. However, they left without taking any responsibility, which is a great shame for them. They shouldn’t have done this,” said Moin Gul Samkanai, a political analyst.

US House of Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul once more criticized the withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan.

“A true leader when they make mistakes, they own it and they take responsibility and they show accountability … what these family members want is transparency and accountability, and yet this administration keeps trying to sweep it under the rug, and they don’t want to talk about it,” McCaul told FOX News.

Meanwhile, the acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Shahabuddin Delavar, said that August 31 is a historical day and the Afghans have achieved victory with great sacrifice.

“Thank God, we achieved this freedom through the sacrifice of the nation,” Delawar said.

The Doha Agreement was signed between the Islamic Emirate and the US on 29 February 2020 in Doha, Qatar, which included the planned withdrawal of US and foreign forces.

Biden Lauds Service of ‘Generations of Brave Women and Men’ in Afghanistan
read more

Second Anniversary Marked of Last American Soldier Leaving Afghanistan

Finally, the twenty-year foreign military presence in Afghanistan came to an end on August 31, 2021, with the departure of the final American soldier.

On August 31, 2021, the last American soldier, Major General Chris Donahue, left Afghanistan.

22 years ago today, American soldiers and their allies invaded Afghanistan under the pretext of fighting terrorist organizations. On August 31, 2021, the final American forces member withdrew from Afghanistan following 20 years of occupation.

On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked in the United States. The attack, according to American officials left nearly 3,000 people dead, and more than 2,500 others wounded.

In response, then US president George W. Bush ordered action.

“On my order, the United States military has begun strikes against al-Qaeda training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan,” said George. W. Bush, the former US president.

“The worst human crimes took place in Afghanistan, as you mentioned, we witnessed the aimless bombings at celebrations, villages, and people’s houses,” said Sayed Hashim Javad Balkhabi, a political analyst.

After the Taliban refused to turn over the leaders of Al-Qaeda to American forces on October 7, 2001, the American military launched an attack on the current Afghan government with the support of British soldiers.

Hamid Karzai was chosen as the interim president of Afghanistan on December 5, 2001, following the signing of the Bonn Agreement.

The number of foreign troops in Afghanistan increased and decreased over the past two decades.

Barack Obama ordered an increase in the number of US military personnel in Afghanistan in December 2009, and despite there already being 70,000 troops stationed there, an additional 35,000 US troops were sent.

Along with American troops, 50,000 troops from other countries also entered Afghanistan.

In 2011, US special forces shot and killed Osama Ben Laden in an operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

“The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda and a terrorist who is responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children,” said Barak Obama, then US President.

In 2014 NATO officially ended its mission in Afghanistan and handed over security responsibility to the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANSDF).

Between 2015 and 2018, Taliban attacks intensified again in Afghanistan.

Former US President Donald Trump appointed Afghan-born US veteran diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad to continue the peace negotiations with the Islamic Emirate’s Qatar-based political office.

After more than 10 rounds of negotiations, Khalilzad reached a peace deal on February 29th, 2020, in Doha, based on which all foreign forces were to leave Afghanistan by May 2021.

On April 14, 2021, US President Joe Biden set September 11, 2021, as the date for the departure of American soldiers from Afghanistan.

After the provinces began to collapse one after another, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the former president of Afghanistan, ultimately fled the nation on August 15, 2021, and the Islamic Emirate’s soldiers, who had already seized control of most of the provinces, entered Kabul.

Finally, the twenty-year foreign military presence in Afghanistan came to an end on August 31, 2021, with the departure of the final American soldier.

Second Anniversary Marked of Last American Soldier Leaving Afghanistan
read more