The US government is working to help approximately 100 US citizens and permanent residents leave Afghanistan

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The official called the number fluid, but told reporters they are “constantly contacting the base” with US citizens who are believed to be still in Afghanistan, as well as other governments and aircraft carriers to try and organize flights. charters.

Since August 31, when U.S. forces left Afghanistan, at least 85 U.S. citizens and 79 lawful permanent residents have left the country with U.S. government assistance, the official said.

“An additional number of US citizens and lawful permanent residents left Afghanistan last month on private charters,” the official said, “but since these private charters, in a number of cases, go to third countries , and don’t come to a place where they’re going to get direct support from U.S. government personnel, we don’t have precise visibility into the precise number of people who got off those flights and who were in fact U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. “

The official said the State Department was in contact with private groups that were running these private flights to try and advise them on “the limits within Afghanistan” as well as “some of the challenges associated with the groups. of people they take out “.

Following the total U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, there have been tensions between the State Department and private groups working to get at-risk Americans and Afghans out of the country. In early September, Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted that there had been “some confusion” around charter flights seeking from Mazar-i-Sharif, a city in northern Afghanistan, and said that the US government “is working to do everything in our power to support these flights and get them off the ground” after coming under scrutiny from outside groups and congressional lawmakers.

On Monday, the senior State Department official said there had been “challenges” with “each charter arriving at a (US government) reception point, primarily in Doha.”

“A bunch of people came out that we weren’t expecting,… and we don’t necessarily know if who they say they are… matches who the charter operators have indicated they are,” they said.

“We had stowaways. We had ground personnel who got on the plane. We had a number of people who got off these flights that are not on the manifesto, who did not necessarily an idea of ​​who they are or why they particularly think they would qualify, ”they added.

“In some cases, we have had unaccompanied minors traveling without parents, no legal guardian, and big question marks as to why they were on the plane,” the official said.

The official noted that the State Department is working to see who in this population “can legitimately say they are at serious risk” – describing them as “people who can demonstrably demonstrate that they have threats. active against them, they have people looking for them ”-“ as opposed to people who are simply uncomfortable or fearful of the unknown that accompanies the Taliban’s takeover of government and state ”.

“Once we have a clear picture of this population, then we can better assess and ensure that senior leaders have the opportunity to consider the range of implications associated with moving these people into the [United] States or detain them and subject them to a regular refugee resettlement process during which some of them may arrive at [United] States and some of them could go to other countries that collaborate with United Nations organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration, they said.

Unpredictability

The official described “the Taliban’s unpredictability regarding who is allowed to leave” as the biggest obstacle to the departure of US citizens and others from Afghanistan. Another important constraint is the lack of scheduled commercial air service, the official said.

“There is a series of ongoing contacts and dialogues with the Taliban, especially in Doha, with other members of the Taliban political commission based there,” the official said.

The official said he would not go into details of talks with the Taliban, but used the Arabic acronym for the ISIS group to indicate that US officials have launched terrorist threats.

“In all of our interactions and communications with the Taliban, whether directly or indirectly, we continue to focus on one of our top priorities – in addition to focusing on terrorist concerns like Daesh – another priority absolute for the United States. is freedom of movement and a safe passage for our citizens, our legal residents and for a number of Afghans who wish to travel and leave the country at this time, whether for a temporary or longer period, “said the responsible.

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