Afghans in Albania face uncertainty after Trump suspends refugee program!
In Albania, thousands of Afghans who fled their country to escape Taliban rule are facing uncertainty as they await approval for U.S. visas. Amid the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and rising Taliban violence, the United States under President Biden expanded the scope of at-risk Afghan citizens eligible for U.S. refugee status.
Employees and former employees of U.S.-based news organizations were included, as were U.S.-based aid and development agencies and other aid groups that receive U.S. funding. Employees and former employees of the U.S. government and NATO military operations who did not meet the criteria for a dedicated program for such workers were also covered.
However, the measure came with a major caveat that severely limited the number of people who could benefit: applicants would have to leave Afghanistan and begin the adjudication process, which could take 12-14 months, in a third country. The US had no intention of supporting their departures or stays there.
More than 3,200 Afghans, many of whom had qualified for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), are staying in Albania. Upon arrival, they were interviewed and asked to provide the necessary documentation to proceed with their applications.
But in his first days in office, President Trump's administration announced that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program would be suspended starting January 27 for at least three months. During that period, the White House said the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, would submit a report to the president on whether restarting the program is in the U.S. interest, according to Reuters.
Refugees who were approved to travel to the United States before January 27 had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration. Among those affected are more than 1,600 Afghans allowed to resettle in the U.S. That number includes those who worked alongside U.S. soldiers during the war, as well as family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel.
Many Afghan refugees in Albania still hope that Washington will fulfill its promise to accept them, away from the oppressive Taliban regime.
According to Reuters, despite initial promises of more moderate rule, the Taliban quickly began to implement restrictions on women and girls, banning them from public spaces and most workplaces, as well as banning education for girls beyond the sixth grade.
In Shëngjin, a town on the Adriatic coast about 70 kilometers northwest of the Albanian capital of Tirana, hundreds of Afghans were given temporary shelter after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021. At the time, US and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal after two decades of war, while the US-backed Afghan government and army collapsed.
Thousands of Afghans have been staying in Albania's tourist resorts along the Adriatic Sea. A NATO member, Albania initially agreed to house the Afghan refugees for a year before their eventual settlement in the United States, then pledged to keep them longer if their visas were delayed.
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