On First Day In Office, US Defense Secy Stresses Support For Washington's Afghan Partners
On his first day in office, the new US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth reiterated support for Washington's Afghan partners.
On his first day in office, the new US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth reiterated support for Washington's Afghan partners.
"We stand with our [Afghan] allies," he said when he arrived at the Pentagon in response to a question about the fate of Afghan refugees eligible for transfer to the United States.
Hegseth began his work as the US Secretary of Defence at the Pentagon on Monday, US time.
In an interview with reporters, Hegseth referred to the bracelet that belonged to a US soldier killed in Afghanistan and claimed that he wears it "everyday".
Trump's executive order to suspend all US immigration programmes has put the process of relocating US Afghan allies in a difficult position.
According to the Associated Press, there are currently about 15,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan eligible for transfer to the United States.
On Monday, January 28, CNN quoted Anna Lloyd, an official with the Task Force Argo, as saying that 3,000 Afghan refugees eligible for transfer to the United States are in a camp in Qatar and another 500 in Albania are waiting to travel to the United States. In addition, thousands more are still inside Afghanistan.
Lloyd also said that the suspension of US immigration programmes and the cancellation of foreign aid by the new US president has put Afghan refugees in third countries, especially the Qatar camp, in a critical situation.
According to the NGO Task Force Argo, Afghan refugees in camps in Qatar do not even have access to toilet paper and children's hygiene supplies.
Although Trump's US immigration programme has not been suspended, Lloyd said that most of these migrants are unable to travel to the US due to flight funding cuts.
CNN, citing two sources in the Trump administration, reported that discussions are also underway within his administration about what can be done to exempt Afghans who have helped the United States abroad from Trump's order to suspend US immigration programmes.
Outside the government, a number of US senators, pro-immigrant organisations, including the Argo and AfghanEvac Task Force, human rights organisations, and US war veterans in Afghanistan are working to resume the process of relocating eligible Afghan refugees to the United States.
