Appleghanistan

Refugees flock to city & NY state

More than 200 Afghans who were forced to flee after the Taliban returned to power are set to call the Big Apple home, accounting for roughly a fifth of refugees bound for the Empire State, Gov. Hochul announced Thursday.

The figures from Hochul’s office show that the biggest contingent of the 1,143 evacuees is bound to the Buffalo area, which will become home for 335 of them. The five boroughs and its surrounding suburbs will host the secondbiggest share, 240.

“New York has a storied history of welcoming those seeking a safe haven from violence and persecution — a proud tradition our state continues today by helping evacuees from Afghanistan rebuild,” Hochul said.

“The heart-wrenching images and stories of people fleeing their homeland were a call to action that New York state is more than willing to answer,” she added. “We welcome our new Afghan friends with open arms and pledge to provide them the assistance they can rely on to rebuild anew.”

New York state is already home to approximately 7,500 Afghans.

Nearly 130,000 people were airlifted out of Afghanistan in one of the largest mass evacuations in US history, including Americans, allies and Afghans who worked for the US government, related organizations or faced threats from the Taliban — such as civil-rights advocates.

Many of those people are still in transit, undergoing security vetting and screening in other countries, including Germany, Spain, Kuwait and Qatar. Others were taken to eight different military bases in the US for vetting and medical screening.

The checks must be completed before they can be released and resettled elsewhere in the country.

Federal officials have said they expect some 50,000 Afghans will gain residency here in the US as part of “Operation Allies Welcome.” Many of them translated, drove or otherwise assisted the military during the two-decade war in that country.

Many of the Afghans who worked for the US government have undergone years of vetting already before they were hired, and then again to apply for a special immigrant visa for US allies.

Despite the rounds of checks, some Republican lawmakers have questioned whether the screening is thorough enough.