US: Afghan Evacuees Who Fail Initial Screening Kosovo-Bound | Chicago News

FILE – In this file photo dated August 29, 2021, families evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan walk past a U.S. Air Force plane arriving at the international airport in Kosovar’s capital, Pristina. (AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu, File)

A passionate U.S. ally, Kosovo, has agreed to admit Afghan evacuees who fail the first round of screening and admit them for up to a year, a U.S. official said on Saturday to address one of the security concerns of the frantic U.S. evacuation from the airport Kabul.

The US plan is likely to meet objections from refugee lawyers, who are already complaining about the lack of disclosure and uncertain legal jurisdiction in the Biden government’s use of foreign screening sites. These quickly established overseas transit locations are still operating at near or full speed to validate eligibility and check for security issues with thousands of Afghans and a smaller number of Americans leaving August 15 through August 31 Taliban-held Afghanistan were flown out.

The US official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the plan. It was the first disclosure of what the US intends to do with Afghans or other evacuees who have failed the initial rounds of screening or whose cases require further processing.

The US embassy in Kosovo said in a statement later on Saturday that the agreement did not mean that Kosovo would accept evacuees who were deemed not to have been admitted to the US. “Some applicants are still in the process of obtaining the necessary documents and providing all the information required for immediate entry under US law,” the embassy said.

The Biden administration had for months resisted pressure from some refugee organizations and veterans groups to bring former Afghan allies or others most vulnerable to the Taliban to American territory for security clearance and other processing.

Several other countries hesitated for a time to temporarily accept Afghan evacuees from the United States for fear of holding on to American security problems. All of this posed major obstacles to US preparations to evacuate vulnerable Afghans even before Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 15.

The lightning-fast conquest of Afghanistan by the Taliban triggered the chaotic US military airlift from Kabul airport.

Within days of the Taliban’s takeover, the government mobilized thousands of U.S. troops, diplomats, law enforcement, border and transport workers, volunteers, and others to investigate evacuees at more than half a dozen U.S. naval stations, airfields, and the Army, to process and support bases in Europe and Asia. Officials and volunteers handed over soft toys and toys to arriving children at many transit points and set up play areas.

The aim of the mobilization was to get deserved evacuees to the United States as quickly as possible and to stop potential safety hazards among evacuees and other evacuees who did not qualify for relocation to the United States before they hit US soil.

Refugee groups criticize the evacuation efforts of the Biden government as too late and too little planned. The haste of the airlifts after the fall of Kabul meant that a minority of evacuees were thousands of kilometers from Kabul Airport before the Americans discovered problems, including some evacuees with security concerns.

In one case, a red flag appeared on the case of an evacuee while on the flight between two of the overseas transit locations, said another U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss processing. In a comparatively small number of cases, the U.S. overseas transit locations also deal with other evacuees who require further investigation or who lie or destroy their ID in hopes of qualifying for immigration, the U.S. official said.

Some who managed to break through the crowds and US and Taliban airport controls were put on planes and made it to transit locations without being obviously considered vulnerable Afghans for US relocation, the said Officer.

Most Afghan evacuees handle large transit locations in a matter of days, which U.S. government officials quickly set up at military bases in Qatar, Germany, and Italy, as well as smaller locations elsewhere. These evacuees then fly through Philadelphia or Washington Dulles airports for relocation to the United States.

Other US officials said they expect most or all Afghans whose cases initially raise red flags or questions to pass further review.

Eligible Afghans include those who have worked for the US government, women’s advocates, journalists, or others at risk due to their role in Afghan civil society.

The US official who unveiled the Kosovo plan said the transit centers “provide a safe place for various groups …

The US will use a military camp, Bondsteel, which houses the US Army near the Kosovar capital, for further screening and processing of evacuees destined for relocation to the US, the US official said. An area near the road that used to house road personnel is intended to temporarily accommodate evacuees en route to other NATO countries under the direction and supervision of NATO.

Germany and Italy each set deadlines of no more than two weeks for US clearance of an evacueee on their territory.

Kosovo has regarded itself as a close ally of the United States since the US led a 1999 NATO air campaign against Serbian forces who brutally treated Kosovar civilians. The two Afghan evacuation sites are on a highway named after President Joe Biden’s late son, Beau Biden, who trained local judges and prosecutors after the war in Kosovo.

The leaders of Kosovo have agreed to a year stay for the evacuees, with the possibility of an extension. The Kosovar Prime Minister and other officials appeared at the airport to greet the first Afghan evacuees.

The majority of Kosovar’s population are Muslims like Afghans, although Kosovo’s constitution establishes it as a secular state. There is a sizeable minority of Orthodox Christian Serbs in Kosovo.

Refugee organizations say the US has not been open or efficient in handling evacuees in overseas transit centers.

“There’s just a terrifying lack of transparency on the part of the administration about what’s going on, who’s there … who to turn to if there’s a problem” for the evacuees at the sites, said Adam Bates, attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Project. one of the most important US refugees working with Afghans trying to flee the Taliban.

He spoke before the Biden government announced its plans for the Kosovo site.