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Exodus Deadline. Afghanistan – Timothy Ham
by Timothy Ham, special to RINewsToday
Photos: Timothy Ham
August 31st the planes are to leave for the last time, full of US military, State Department, CIA Staff and probably the last of the interpreters helping process those Afghans lucky enough to have an approved Visa Application Number.
A new visa effort had been created at the last minute for Afghan women leaders and women judges. A January assassination of two women judges further clarified their risk. The project I directed in western Afghanistan on a US Agency for International Development (USAID) contract worked with a subcontractor who because he was not a direct employee of the project did not qualify for the Special Immigration Visa (SIV). However, his wife was a Judge in the Kabul Primary Court hearing drug and public corruption cases and now she qualified for the At-Risk group.
Would I agree to be listed as the Referrer on her application to the State Department, “yes, of course” I said. How can she get her application to the right office at State for consideration in time to get her and her family on a flight out?
Many people were contacted, University of Washington School of Law staff who worked with Afghans a few years ago; International Association of Women Judges in Washington DC.; the former State Department Officer in Afghanistan, now retired, as he reached out to current State Officers; the Feminist Majority Foundation in DC; attorneys in DC and London seeking to assist where they can; review the phone directory of the State Department and calling the Operations Center used only by current State officers and leaving a message seeking the right office to help. The list was like a decision tree, one link to another, to another, in hopes of finding someone who could guide her application forward.
Finally, she was referred to an Afghan Evacuation team working with women Judges and then to a US State Department Interagency Task Force to process the application. With the August 31st date looming, 16,000 Afghans and Americans have been ferried out in the last 24 hours: 58,700 in the last ten days.
And then the Taliban closed the door and said no more Afghans would be allowed to travel to the airport and leave the country – only Americans and other foreigners can enter the airport. Our hopes were dashed as her files were resting either on the inside of the fence at the airport or at a processing center in Qatar or DC, we never knew where.
Will the 31st date hold as the Taliban demanded? Will President Biden stretch that out another few days or will Afghans who have supported us be left behind in harm’s way?
Will the Judge, her family and others get out? Six more days of hope and waiting to go.
Timothy Ham, exclusive to RINewsToday
Timothy Ham is a 1974 graduate of Providence College who worked in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Jordan on USAID funded efforts.
Other stores by Tim on Afghanistan: