Religion and Politics

International Human Rights Organizations Scramble to Get Local Allies out of Afghanistan

The Washington Post‘s Missy Ryan and Kareem Fahim report, “The stunningly swift collapse of the Afghan state injected a sense of desperation into a month-long effort by outside aid groups and religious and advocacy organizations to secure visas, flights or any kind of way out for Afghans seen as likely militant targets.” Women’s rights activists are particularly worried about the threat, and they may not qualify for special U.S. visa programs that assist interpreters or those Afghans who worked directly with the U.S. government. They write, “Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said her organization was flooded with appeals from panicking Afghans. ‘There are no assurances that once these individuals have been identified, and credible claims are validated, that anything will come of it,’ she said.”

Read at The Washington Post

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