US speeds up resettlement efforts for thousands of Afghans waiting in Abu Dhabi

Thousands of Afghans, who have been sheltered in the UAE since the US withdrew from Afghanistan last year, are expected to be resettled by August, said a senior US state department official.

Several thousands of those with a 'pathway to the US' will be processed in an urgent manner, the official told journalists during a media roundtable on Friday, admitting that the process has been “complicated, difficult and time consuming.”

US authorities are also awaiting the results of a survey recently introduced to help them understand how to proceed to move people out of Emirates Humanitarian City, where they are being looked after.

“There are several thousand that we are pretty sure we'll be able to process for the United States, and then the survey will give us the information that we can share with various international colleagues to give them a chance to look at the population there in terms of the list as to who might be of interest to them for resettlement in their countries.

“We haven't started that process yet because we don't have the list yet, but and we’ve had only very preliminary conversations with a few of our international colleagues. We have a call with international colleagues of about 60 countries every week, and we always remind them of the importance of their participating in this international effort.

“We are hoping to finish the survey in the next couple of days, but then we have to analyse it and make sure we understand who's there and to match up who we think we know goes to the United States with what the list tells us,” the official said.

On when she expected the resettlement of all Afghans in Humanitarian City, she said: “It'd be very nice to have it finished by August.”

Individuals are put through a rigorous security vetting, which includes the collection of biometrics and stringent medical checks.

Since August, the US has resettled 85,000 displaced Afghans, with 6,400 being relocated to the US from Abu Dhabi.

The official also apologised for how slow the process has been, admitting it has caused much frustration to those affected. “One of the things that I heard a lot about here in Abu Dhabi is the frustration of the Afghans and how slow our process has been. And I can only tell you that I completely and totally share that frustration. It has taken us way too long,” she said.

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The official explained that it has taken the US authorities some time to set up the systems that are necessary in order to process Afghans for the security vetting and the medical for their visas or for the other pathways to the United States.

“We now have finally gotten all those systems agreed by the security agencies and the medical agencies in Washington, which is no easy task.

“We have been able to depend on and receive excellent cooperation from the government of the United Arab Emirates in order to set up those processes in ways that work for us,” she added.

The criteria for those who have a pathway to the United States, or those to whom the US government has a commitment include American citizens and their families, legal permanent residents, those with special immigrant visa, and those who work for the US government or partner agencies.

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