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Written by Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign aid has forced the suspension of flights for more than 40,000 Afghans who have been approved for special US visas and are at risk of Taliban reprisals,’ the chief spokesman and the American official said on Saturday.
The suspension was caused by Trump’s order to freeze foreign development aid for 90 days pending a review of the effectiveness and compliance of his “America First” policy.
Experts and advocacy groups say the foreign aid freeze has led to confusion in the US and international aid operations and has halted nutrition, health, immunization and other programs.
The order also resulted in the State Department suspending funding for groups that help Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) find housing, schools and jobs in the US.
Trump has promised an immigration divide during his 2024 re-election campaign.
Shawn VanDiver, head of #AfghanEvac, a large veterans and advocacy group working with the US government to evacuate and repatriate those with SIV, said he does not believe the grounding was intentional.
“We think it was a mistake,” VanDiver said.
He said he hoped the administration would grant an exemption to Afghan orders for SIVs because they served the U.S. government during the 20-year war that resulted in the withdrawal of the U.S. military. US in Afghanistan in August 2021.
“They fought with us. They bled next to us,” said VanDiver, who pointed out that tens of thousands of other Afghans are waiting for SIV applications to be processed.
The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reports from the UN mission in Afghanistan say the Taliban have captured, tortured and killed former soldiers and officials of the former US-backed government. The Taliban issued a general amnesty for former soldiers and government officials and denied the charges.
The suspension affected more than 40,000 Afghans, including those with SIV who were waiting to fly to the US from visa processing centers in Qatar and Albania, said VanDiver and the US official. , which spoke on condition of anonymity.
That figure also includes Afghans who have been approved for SIVs waiting in Afghanistan and Pakistan to be put on US-sponsored flights to processing centers in Doha and Tirana to get their visas, they said. .
About 200,000 Afghans have been resettled in the US via SIVs or as refugees since the 2021 US conflict.
In a separate executive order signed hours after his inauguration on Monday, Trump suspended all US refugee resettlement programs.
The order resulted in hundreds of Afghan refugees losing their seats on planes, including family members of the Afghan American military, former Afghan soldiers and unaccompanied minors.
