Lawyers and family react to Trump’s cancellation of resettlement of Afghan refugees Refugee news

Afghans who left their homeland after the Taliban return to power In 2021, they are asking the United States to reconsider the decision to cancel all current refugee resettlement efforts.

On Wednesday, reactions continued to pour in against one executive order Trump signed it two days ago, on his first day in office.

That order called for the suspension of the US Refugee Readmission Program (USRAP), which resettles refugees into the country, effective January 27. All applications and arrivals through the program are likewise suspended.

But the abrupt termination of USRAP has left Afghan refugees—many of whom have already agreed to enter the United States—at risk of instability and violence.

Mahnoosh Monir, a former medical student and teacher at a language center in Afghanistan, fled to Pakistan after the Taliban closed the school where he worked.

The Taliban imposed severe restrictions after taking power women’s rightseven prohibited their ability to speak in public.

Monir expressed surprise at Trump’s actions in an article published in the Associated Press on Wednesday. She told the news agency that women would struggle to “survive” under Taliban rule.

“I didn’t expect this suspension to happen,” Monir said. “A long waiting period makes us think about the very depressing possibilities of being sent back to Afghanistan or waiting for a long time in Pakistan as an at-risk refugee, which seems like a nightmare for all claimants.”

The US owes a lot to the Afghans

Others have questioned whether the United States has abdicated its responsibility to the Afghans, who have supported a military presence in the country for two decades.

Thousands of Afghans have worked alongside U.S. forces and the U.S.-backed government during the country’s two-decade war. After the fall of the US-backed government in August 2021, many feared Taliban retaliation and hoped to find safe haven in the US.

“President Trump’s decision to cancel the flights of Afghans and other refugees who are allowed and vetted to come to the United States is cruel, ugly and racist,” Arash Azizzadeh, co-founder of the US-based advocacy organization “Afghans for a Better Tomorrow”, told Al Jazeera. said via text.

“This decision will ensure that Afghans seeking safety face targeting, detention, torture or worse under the brutal Taliban rule. “The United States owes the Afghans a great debt, and we will ensure that America pays that debt long after this administration is over.”

Another advocacy group, USRAP Refugees from Afghanistan, published an open letter to Trump and members of the US Congress urging action.

“Many of us have risked our lives to support the US mission as translators, contractors, human rights defenders and allies,” the letter reads.

He even warned that the refugees who crossed the Afghan border of Pakistan were facing dangerous conditions.

“The situation in Pakistan is becoming increasingly unbearable. Arbitrary arrests, deportations and insecurity add to our distress.”

Great demand

About 15,000 Afghans are currently waiting to be resettled in neighboring Pakistan. There are some he waited for years and spent countless hours navigating the complex bureaucracy of the US immigration system.

Others went to South America to make the perilous journey to North America US-Mexico borderso they can seek shelter.

There is the United Nations he called The situation in Afghanistan is “one of the most urgent crises in the world.” He predicts that more than half a million Afghans will need to be resettled in 2025.

According to a US State Department report, more 160,000 Afghans arrived in the country in August 2021. However, advocates have been critical of former President Joe Biden’s administration. slow decisions at the entrance.

Trump, who replaced Biden on Monday, campaigned on a serious platform restricting immigration to the United States. During his first term, which runs from 2017 to 2021, the Republican leader banned citizens from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the country, prompting critics to dub the policy the “Muslim ban.”

In Monday’s executive order, Trump defended his actions as necessary, describing the United States as overwhelmed by the arrivals.

“The United States does not have the capacity to welcome large numbers of migrants, particularly refugees, into its communities without undermining the availability of resources for Americans,” the executive order said.

It is unclear when or if USRAP will be reinstated. Trump has called for a report on the program at the end of 90 days — and at the end of every 90-day period thereafter until he determines “it is in the best interest of the United States to restore USRAP.”

The announcement caused concern among those in the United States, including military personnel whose family members are still in Afghanistan or in refugee camps.

“I think about it all day,” an Afghan-American soldier with the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

His sister stays in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. “I can’t even do my job properly because it affects me mentally.”