Afghan evacuees weeded out in vetting wait in limbo
WASHINGTON — Two months after the evacuation of 80,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover, most have cleared subsequent vetting for admission into the United States. Some initially raised possible security issues — such as evacuees who shared a name with terrorism suspects — but were absolved on closer scrutiny.
But several dozen have been red-flagged, despite having helped the United States during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, because screenings uncovered apparent records of violent crime or links to Islamist militants that follow-up evaluations have not cleared, officials said. The derogatory information has raised the question of what to do with them, leaving them in limbo.
The military transferred most of the still-flagged evacuees — some with relatives — to Camp Bondsteel, a NATO base in Kosovo, which agreed to let Afghans be housed there for up to a year if they stayed on the base. They are designated as requiring further investigation, and no final decision has been made about whether they will receive permission to enter the United States, officials said.
But in an acknowledgment that many are likely to be barred from the United States, the Biden administration’s national security team has been meeting to grapple with how to handle them.
Officials declined to provide a precise number for the group deemed problematic, saying it fluctuates as the assessment work continues. A few of the evacuees sent to Camp Bondsteel were later cleared to travel to the United States after further evaluation, they said.
But several officials said that of the group of evacuees drawing longer-term scrutiny, those who appear to have committed violent crimes number in the single digits, and several dozen have been flagged for apparent links to Islamist militants — mostly the Taliban.
About 76,000 Afghan evacuees have now arrived in the U.S. after clearing the screening process abroad, officials said. About 4,000 remain overseas, but most them are said by officials to have been cleared, and they are waiting for recent vaccinations to take effect.