Secrecy shrouds Afghan refugees sent by US to base in Kosovo

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. is welcoming tens of thousands of Afghans airlifted retired of Kabul but has disclosed small publically astir a tiny radical who stay overseas: dozens who triggered imaginable information issues during information vetting and person been sent to an American basal successful the Balkan federation of Kosovo.

Human rights advocates person raised concerns astir the Afghans diverted to Camp Bondsteel successful Kosovo implicit the past six weeks, citing a deficiency of transparency astir their status, the reasons for holding them backmost and the question of what mightiness go of immoderate who can't beryllium cleared to travel to the U.S.

“We are evidently concerned,” said Jelena Sesar, a researcher for Amnesty International who specializes successful the Balkans. “What truly happens with these people, particularly the radical who don’t walk information vetting? Are they going to beryllium detained? Are they going to person immoderate entree to ineligible assistance? And what is the program for them? Is determination immoderate hazard of them yet being returned to Afghanistan?”

The Biden medication says it's excessively soon to reply immoderate of these questions, astatine slightest publicly, arsenic it works feverishly to resettle the Afghans who were evacuated pursuing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan successful August.

The deficiency of nationalist accusation has made it a situation for those who intimately way the destiny of refugees. “There’s not a batch of transparency successful presumption of however the information cheque authorities works,” said Sunil Varghese, argumentation manager for the International Refugee Assistance Project. “We don’t cognize wherefore radical are being sent to Kosovo for further screening, what that further screening is, however agelong it volition take.”

So far, much than 66,000 Afghans person arrived successful the U.S since Aug. 17, undergoing what the authorities portrays arsenic a rigorous information vetting process to surface retired nationalist information threats from among a colonisation that includes radical who worked arsenic interpreters for the American subject arsenic good arsenic their ain country's equipped forces.

Of those, astir 55,000 are astatine U.S. subject bases astir the country, wherever they implicit migration processing and aesculapian evaluations and quarantine earlier settling successful the United States. There are inactive 5,000 radical from the evacuation astatine transit points successful the Middle East and Europe, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which is managing the effort known arsenic Operation Allies Welcome.

The resettlement effort is nether aggravated scrutiny pursuing waves of disapproval of President Joe Biden for the frantic evacuation U.S. forces and allies arsenic portion of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was enactment successful question erstwhile President Donald Trump's medication signed a bid woody with the Taliban to extremity America's longest war.

Trump and different Republicans person since criticized the medication for allowing insufficiently vetted Afghans into the country. Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has defended the screening and said determination person been lone minimal threats detected among the arriving refugees.

The nonstop fig astatine Camp Bondsteel successful Kosovo, a tiny federation successful southeastern Europe that gained independency from Serbia with U.S. enactment successful 2008, fluctuates arsenic caller radical get and others permission erstwhile information issues, specified arsenic missing documents, are resolved, according to U.S. officials.

The authorities of Kosovo, a adjacent U.S. ally, has agreed to fto the refugees enactment successful its territory for a year. The state besides hosts a abstracted radical astatine tract adjacent to Bondsteel known arsenic Camp Bechtel, wherever Afghans who worked for NATO nations during the warfare are staying temporarily until they are resettled successful Europe.

For respective weeks, determination were astir 30 Afghan evacuees, on with astir 170 household members, astatine Camp Bondsteel due to the fact that of reddish flags, according to 1 U.S. official, who spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon accusation not publically released.

They are successful a benignant of limbo due to the fact that they aren't detained but they aren't needfully escaped to permission either astatine this point.

They volunteered to beryllium evacuated from Afghanistan but were flagged astatine 1 of the transit points successful Europe oregon the Middle East and told they had to spell to Kosovo. Some chose to bring their families with them portion authorities enactment with analysts and different experts from the FBI, DHS and different agencies to resoluteness questions astir their individuality oregon past associations, said a elder medication official.

They are escaped to determination astir the the basal but can't permission nether conditions acceptable by the authorities of Kosovo, said the elder official, speaking connected information of anonymity to sermon information and diplomatic issues.

Those sent to Bondsteel are radical who necessitate “significant further consideration,” involving investigation and interviews, earlier authorities consciousness comfy allowing them to determination connected to the U.S., the elder medication authoritative said.

In immoderate cases, the investigation has led to a determination that they are “suitable for onward question to the United States," portion successful others the “work remains ongoing” and their cases stay unresolved, said the elder medication official, without giving a precise breakdown connected the numbers involved.

The U.S. has not sent anyone backmost to Afghanistan and volition determine the destiny of anyone who can't marque it done the vetting process connected an “individualized” basis, which successful immoderate cases mightiness mean resettling them successful different country, this authoritative said.

In the meantime, though, Bondsteel remains off-limits to outsiders, including lawyers who mightiness perchance correspond radical determination if they aren't yet allowed to participate the U.S., a concern that doesn't beryllium close with advocates similar Sesar. "There is not existent entree to the camp,” she said. “There’s nary nationalist oregon autarkic scrutiny of what happens successful there.”

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Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed.

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