What's Next for Refugees of the Afghanistan Crisis

  

 

As I'm sure we all know, shocking photos of the new Afghanistan crisis have been circulated all over the internet in the past few weeks. Desperate Afghan citizens have been fighting to secure spots on the few international flights remaining, as evacuation capabilities are now extremely limited due to the Taliban takeover. These hundreds of thousands of evacuees now face the immediate task of finding employment and a safer place to live. For many refugees, this means neighboring countries like Iran and Pakistan, which host more than 2 million Afghan refugees as of August 2021. However, after many of the recent events and increased United States involvement in the situation, the United States has become responsible for about 70,000 Afghans who hold special immigrant visas. 

All refugees (Regardless of if they hold a visa or not), will be put through a 14-step security screening before even being allowed across the United States border, where they will then undergo grueling legal processes to attempt to become citizens or to obtain temporary work visas. This will require a period of humanitarian parole for some refugees and/or a period of processing in another country like Qatar, Bahrain, or Germany. After that initial process is completed, many will be introduced into the United States resettlement program. 

The resettlement program has been tasked with providing temporary housing and food for these asylum-seekers. However, much of the system was dismantled during the Trump era and has been in a state of disarray. President Biden had also promised to improve the program as well but has only provided resettlement for around 7,000 refugees this year, falling far short of his proposed ceiling of around 62,500. With the American resettlement program in shambles, a large portion of the work may fall onto the hands of local employers, nonprofit organizations, or citizens with kind enough hearts to provide what they can to these displaced persons. 

Links : 

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/29/world/asia/afghan-refugees-future.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58283177

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/afghan-immigrate-us-challenges/2021/08/29/36c3a082-050e-11ec-a266-7c7fe02fa374_story.html

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/afghan-refugees-united-states-evacuation-explained-7475325/