When the United States and other NATO nations left Afghanistan as the Taliban seized control in August 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan. Almost three years later, many still remain, trapped in resettlement limbo – including roughly 20,000 Afghans awaiting promised visas to the United States. Now, these Afghans face the … Read more
In a March 6 briefing, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller provided an update on the Afghan special immigrant visa (SIV) program, noting that in the last fiscal year the department has been able to issue more than 39,000 SIVs. That said, Miller pointed out that the State Department is nearing the congressionally set cap. … Read more
On Monday, December 11, the United States announced the sanctioning of two former Afghan government officials for “their extensive roles in transnational corruption,” which allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars from government contracts intended to support Afghan security forces. The two former officials, Mir Rahman Rahmani and his son, Ajmal Rahmani, were nominated for sanctions by … Read more
Advertisement Billions of frozen assets from Afghanistan’s Central Bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), face an uncertain future in Switzerland, over a year after a fund was established to disburse them. In September 2022, the Fund for the Afghan People was created with a mandate to disburse $3.5 billion in DAB’s assets in support of Afghanistan’s … Read more
Advertisement Hearing blasts and gunfire, he could see how horrifying the situation was. From a tower in the U.S. Embassy, he witnessed the chaos ensuing at the airport as evacuations began. Crowds were flooding in. He thought of his family back home in Nepal, and what his future might hold. These were the recollections of … Read more
Advertisement After two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the immeasurable sacrifices of the nation’s soldiers, law enforcement, and public officials, Kabul is once again under the rule of the Taliban. The consequences of the militant group’s takeover have been described at great length elsewhere: schools have been closed, music banned, women subjected to extraordinary … Read more