The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Paperwork problems delay evacuations, secretary says
A few U.S. citizens, allies still awaiting clearance from Taliban officials.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the United States is working with the Taliban to extract U.S. citizens and at-risk allies left behind in Afghanistan after the militant group’s takeover last month and that a dispute over some Afghans’ travel documentation is to blame for the delay.
A small number of U.S. citizens and hundreds of Afghans have been in limbo for days awaiting Taliban clearance for their charter flights to depart the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. But conflicting claims about why the aircraft haven’t taken off led to intensified criticism of the Taliban and the Biden administration, which promised to help those seeking to flee the militants’ rule. They also underscored how complex the mission has become with no U.S. personnel on the ground to verify the accuracy of passenger manifests and personal paperwork.
“It’s my understanding that the Taliban has not denied exit to anyone holding a valid document, but they have said those without valid documents, at this point, can’t leave,” Blinken said at a news conference in Qatar alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Qatari counterparts. He estimated that there are roughly 100 U.S. citizens seeking to flee Afghanistan and said the main impediment was the Taliban’s refusal to let Afghans who lacked the necessary documents leave.
“Because all of these people are grouped together,” Blinken said, “that’s meant that flights have not been allowed to go.”
The charter flights have been organized by advocacy groups, members of Congress and veterans of the 20-year war. Some were quick to dispute Blinken’s comments, saying the passengers on their flights have all the documentation that was required for evacuation flights before the U.S. withdrawal. They acknowledged, however, that some passengers didn’t have passports, a requirement they say is overly burdensome.
“The information we provided the State Department is above and beyond what is usually required for travel in Afghanistan,” said Maria Mcelwain, communications director for Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-conn., who has been working with a group of veterans, journalists and advocates to secure safe passage for two planes in Mazar-e Sharif. “Although some of our passengers are small children who, admittedly, do not yet have a full suite of documentation that an adult might have, in those cases we provide shot records and offered to help verify their identity any other way that we could.”
Elizabeth Rubin, an American journalist working to secure safe passage of people in Mazar-e Sharif said “names and documents” had been sent to the State Department a week ago and that Albania had given visas to “every single person on these two planes.”
Rep. Michael Mccaul, R-texas, citing classified briefings, had suggested over the weekend a more nefarious reason for the delay, telling Fox News, “This is really . . . turning into a hostage situation where they’re not going to allow American citizens to leave until they get full recognition from the United States of America.”
Blinken rejected that accusation. “We are not aware of anyone being held on an aircraft or any hostage-like situation,” he said, characterizing as “real concerns” the logistical challenges associated with verifying passengers’ documents.