Joe Biden has authorised an emergency fund package of up to $100 million to cover 'unexpected urgent' needs of refugees from Afghanistan, including for Afghan special immigration applicants, the White House reported.
The U.S. President has also authorised a further $200 million for services and articles from inventories of U.S. government agencies to cover the same needs.
The U.S prepares to start an evacuating programme in an effort to rescue thousands of Afghan applicants who will be holding special immigration visas (SIVs) and are in risk of retaliation from Taliban insurgents for working for the U.S. government.
The first group is expected to evacuate at the end of this month with the evacuees and their families being flown to the Fort Lee military base in Virginia. There, they will wait for their visa applications to be processed.
The facility is located about 30 miles (48 km) south of Richmond and can accommodate approximately 2,500 Afghans.
The Biden administration is currently reviewing other U.S facilities in the U.S. as well as oversees to accommodate SIV applicants and their families.
SIVs are available to those who worked for the U.S. government after the 2001 invasion.
A new legislation was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives allowing the expansion of the number of SIVs by 8,000, which could cover all potentially eligible applicants.
Officials have said that about 18,000 such applications are being processed.
[h/t: Reuters]
COMMENTS