Posted on September 2, 2021

23,876 ‘at Risk’ Afghans Have Already Arrived in the United States

Christina Wilkie, CNBC, September 1, 2021

More than 23,000 Afghan refugees deemed to be “at risk” have arrived in the United States, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday, a number that represents more than one-sixth of all the evacuees airlifted out of Kabul in the past two months.

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The vast majority of the Afghan refugees are being housed at seven military bases across the country, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told reporters during a Pentagon briefing Wednesday.

About 20,000 more evacuees are currently at seven staging bases across the military’s command region that includes the Middle East, with an additional 23,000 at seven staging bases in Europe, he said.

The new numbers offer a preview of the massive humanitarian and immigration effort that will be required in the coming days and weeks, as the international community tries to find permanent refuge for families who faced imminent danger at the hands of Afghanistan’s new Taliban government.

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The military bases are not “a place where people would live,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. {snip}

Psaki said the United States is also working with third countries to determine their capacity and willingness to take in refugees from Afghanistan.

Canada has already announced it is willing to accept 20,000 Afghan refugees. Australia has offered to grant asylum for approximately 3,000. And the United Kingdom says it will take in up to 5,000 refugees in the coming year, with a long-term goal of 20,000.

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