US to welcome at least 50,000 evacuated Afghans as part of ‘enduring commitment’

The United States is expected to take in at least 50,000 people following its drawdown in Afghanistan and escalating crisis, the secretary of Homeland security said on Friday.

The US has already evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans who were deemed at risk under the Taliban rule or people who aided America during the war.

They are being moved to the US as part of an “enduring commitment” to help the people of Afghanistan, Alejandro Mayorkas said as per AP report. “Our commitment is an enduring one… this is not just a matter of the next several weeks. We will not rest until we have accomplished the ultimate goal,” Mayorkas said in a briefing.

After having a military base in Afghanistan for twenty years, the United States completed its withdrawal process earlier this week. The pullout led to a collapse of the Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani, and the Taliban seizing the power being ousted by the US forces in 2001.

Former governor of Delaware, Jack Markell will reportedly be serving as coordinator of the resettlement work in what the White House is calling “Operation Allies Welcome.” Markell will be working alongside the National Security Council, Domestic Policy Council, DHS, and other federal agencies “to ensure vulnerable Afghans who pass screening and vetting reviews are safely and efficiently resettled here in the United States,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House principal deputy press secretary.

The country has so far airlifted nearly 130,000 in one of the largest mass evacuations of US history. The authorities are airlifting from Afghanistan and carrying out the vetting and screening work in other countries like Germany, Spain, Kuwait and Qatar.

However, the US government has not released information on what is happening to those who are not making it through the security vettings at the transit points.

According to a report by AP, more than 40,000 have arrived in the US so far. About 20 per cent of these are either American citizens or permanent residents, it also reported. The rest are being moved under the Special Immigrant Visa. “Our mission is not accomplished until we have safely evacuated all US citizens who wish to leave Afghanistan or lawful permanent residents, all individuals who have assisted the United States in Afghanistan,” Mayorkas also said. “This effort will not end until we achieve that goal,” he also said.