U.S. Plans to Complete Resettlement of Afghan Refugees by August

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is hoping to complete in August the resettlement of Afghan refugees stranded by its exit from the country last year as the Taliban surged back to power, a senior State Department official said.

So far, 85,000 Afghan refugees have been resettled in the U.S. and thousands more remain in facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Albania, Mexico and other countries, the official told reporters on Friday, asking not to be named.

The Biden administration's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan after 20 years left many of those who worked with the U.S. fearing for their lives as the Taliban rolled into Kabul and the American-backed government collapsed. While some were airlifted to bases in Qatar and elsewhere, many fled on charter flights to countries including the UAE, where several thousand are being housed in the Emirates Humanitarian City. 

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The official said the procedures for processing several thousand of those who have a “pathway” to resettlement in the U.S. has now been established after being delayed by requirements for vaccines, medical checks and vetting by biometric teams flown in from the U.S.  

There are around 100,000 people who applied for special immigrant visas and remain in Afghanistan, the official said. 

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