1st flight brings over 200 Afghans to US

Washington, July 30: The first flight carrying Afghans who worked as interpreters for American troops and diplomats has arrived in the United States, President Joe Biden said Friday, the start of an operation to evacuate thousands from possible Taliban retaliation.

Around 20,000 Afghans worked for the United States following the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and have applied for evacuation under the State Department's Special Immigrant Visas programme. Some estimates suggest the total number of prospective evacuees under what has been dubbed “Operation Allies Refuge” could be as high as 1,00,000 once relatives are included.

Many of them fear retaliation from the Taliban, which has secured a vast swath of the country since foreign troops began the last stage of a withdrawal due to be complete by late August.

“Today is an important milestone as we continue to fulfill our promise to the thousands of Afghan nationals who served shoulder-to-shoulder with American troops and diplomats over the last 20 years in Afghanistan,” Biden said in a statement released by the White

He added that the administration was working to quickly relocate visa-eligible Afghans "out of harm’s way."

Biden said these first arrivals had already completed extensive background checks and security screenings and would undergo medical checks and other processing in Fort Lee, Virginia before being resettled across the country.

This first flight of around 200 Afghans is part of a broader group of about 2,500 who are furthest along in the visa process and who are being prioritized for relocation to the United States in the coming weeks, according to Russ Travers, an official on the White House National Security Council.

“They now join the over 70,000 Afghans who have received (Special Immigrant Visas) and started new lives in the US since 2008,” Travers said.

Tracey Jacobson, the State Department’s Afghanistan Task Force director, said the arrivals are expected to spend seven days at the Fort Lee military base near Petersburg, Virginia. “They have all been Covid-tested, they’ve had a fitnessto-fly exam, and we have offered vaccines in Kabul to those who are interested in having them," Jacobson said.