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On Friday, the first group of Afghans who worked with Americans in Afghanistan in the past two decades brought more than 200 people to their new lives in the United States, including dozens of children and babies, President Joe Biden said he I am proud to welcome them home.
The initiation of the evacuation flight took away former translators and others who feared reprisals from the Afghan Taliban for cooperating with American soldiers and civilians, highlighting the United States’ combat against the last US combat forces in the coming weeks.
Family members accompany interpreters and translators on board the plane. According to an internal US government document obtained by the Associated Press, the evacuation flight was a passenger plane carrying 221 Afghans under the special visa program, including 57 children and 15 babies.
According to the FlightAware tracking service, it landed in Dulles, Virginia, on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., just after midnight.
Biden called the flight “an important milestone because we will continue to fulfill our commitment to the thousands of Afghan nationals who have fought side by side with the U.S. military and diplomats in Afghanistan for the past 20 years.” He said that he wanted to be in the United States. Veterans, diplomats and others who defended the Afghans paid their respects.
“Most importantly,” Biden said in a statement, “I want to thank these brave Afghans for standing with the United States. Today, I am proud to say to them:’Welcome home.'”
Secretary of State Anthony Brinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin praised the Afghans for working with the Americans and said that their arrival showed the US government’s commitment to them.
However, a refugee agency said that the Biden administration appeared to be still working to resolve the resettlement of thousands of Afghans and urged Biden to bring them to the United States or US territories such as Guam as soon as possible.
Speaking of Afghan interpreters, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, Chairman of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Settlement Agency, said: “So far, there is no clear plan for how to bring the vast majority of our allies to safety.”
“Out of conscience, we cannot place them in a third country with an unreliable human rights record, or where the Taliban may be able to reach them,” the immigration official said.
In Ottawa, There is a movement to relocate interpreters who help the Canadian Army During his 13-year mission in Afghanistan, although some people expressed dissatisfaction this week, they thought the application process of these people was confusing and impractical.
Watch | Freeland said that Canada is committed to relocating interpreters, but the delay and confusion annoyed others:
The federal government vowed to relocate Afghan interpreters in Canada as soon as possible, but at least two former soldiers said that Ottawa needs to help their colleagues first and then handle paperwork like the United States. 1:58
U.S. will commit US$500 million to Afghanistan visa program
The US action has been widely supported by Republican and Democratic lawmakers and veteran groups. Supporters have repeatedly cited examples of Taliban forces targeting Afghans who cooperate with the Americans or the Afghan government.
Congress passed a bill by an overwhelming majority on Thursday that would allow an additional 8,000 visas and $500 million in funding for the Afghanistan visa program.
Biden announced earlier this year that the United States will withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan before September 11 to fulfill the withdrawal agreement reached by former President Donald Trump. He later stated that the US military operation would end on August 31, calling it “overdue.” Since then, some government officials have expressed surprise at the extent and speed of the Taliban’s acquisition of territory in rural areas.
Biden said that although the US military is withdrawing from Afghanistan, the US will continue to support Afghanistan by providing security assistance to the Afghan army and humanitarian and development assistance to the Afghan people.
Today is an important milestone, because the first translators and interpreters to help our soldiers and diplomats in Afghanistan have arrived in the United States. Thank these brave Afghans for standing with us and welcome you.
The newly arrived Afghans will join the other 70,000 people who have resettled in the United States under the special visa program since 2008.
Subsequent flights will bring more of the approximately 700 applicants who have gone the furthest in the visa process, who have been approved and passed security checks.
The US diplomat in charge of the work, Tracey Jacobson, said that the first arrivals were screened for the coronavirus and vaccinated when needed. Jacobson said they expect to stay in Fort Lee, Virginia for approximately 7 days to complete the medical examination and other final steps. She said that resettlement organizations will help when they travel to communities across the United States, some of which have already picked up their families here.
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