Many At-Risk Afghans Unfairly Left Behind During Kabul Evacuation, Refugee Says

EL PASO (Sputnik) – Hamed Ahmadi, an Afghan refugee currently housed at a US military base in Texas, said that the chaotic evacuation at Kabul international airport was inevitable but many who were more at risk should not have been left behind.

“I understand the emergency nature of this evacuation, and no matter what, it would face challenges, but the main issue with the evacuation is that a lot of those whose lives are genuinely at risk couldn’t make it while you hear people who are not really at risk had the chance to get evacuated,” Ahmadi said. “I even hear non-Afghans like Pakistanis and Iranians also had the chance to get evacuated. This is not fair.”

The security risk at Kabul airport intensified each day of the evacuation mission, eventually reaching a breaking point when the Daesh-K* terrorist group carried out a suicide bombing at the Kabul, which reportedly left 170 Afghan civilians dead, including 13 US troops.

Ahmadi worked for a US non-government organization that submitted a P2 visa application on his behalf. He was able to navigate his way through a sea of Afghan refugees flooding the Kabul airport in mid-August and boarded a flight out of Afghanistan on 23 August.

The Taliban has repeatedly conveyed that women will be able to continue to work and that Afghan partners of the United States will be able to evacuate the country, but Ahmadi is not convinced.

Ahmadi spoke to Sputnik from inside the Dona Ana training complex, which is part of the Fort Bliss military base that is headquartered in the Texas city of El Paso. The complex currently houses more than 4,000 Afghan refugees.

Although the federal government is working to improve conditions at the complex, he suggested there needs to be better measures to improve hygiene and other issues.

Ahmadi noted that US military and federal care workers have treated everyone well at the facility.

Ahmadi and the other refugees went through an initial interview including biometric and medical screenings. They are now waiting to be resettled somewhere in the United States.

US media reported that Afghan evacuees who arrived without visas will only be eligible for 90 days of limited assistance from the federal government including a one-time payment of $1,250. Afghan evacuees who arrived through the US refugee program will be eligible for a full range of medical, counseling and resettlement services provided by the federal government.

More than 25,000 Afghan refugees evacuated from Afghanistan after the Taliban* took over the country are being housed in military bases in the United States. On Friday, a senior military official said a vast majority of these refugees are asylum seekers. Earlier this week, a State Department official said initial information indicates a majority of Afghans who applied for US visas were left behind.

Sourse: sputniknews.com