Reactions, Concerns on US Suspension of Afghan Refugee Transfers

The US Vice President JD Vance, in an interview with an American media outlet, defended Donald Trump’s executive order suspending the Afghan refugee transfer program.

Vance stressed that the security vetting of some refugee cases before entering the US were not conducted properly. 

He stated: ” I don’t agree that all these immigrants or all these refugees have been properly vetted. in fact, we know that there are cases of people who allegedly were properly vetted and then were literally planning terrorist attacks on our country.”

Meanwhile, Democrat US Senator Amy Klobuchar reacting to Trump’s order suspending the Afghan refugee transfer program, stated that the US cannot abandon its “Afghan allies.” The senator wrote on X that the order cancels flights for those who fought alongside US forces in Afghanistan.

Amy Klobuchar: “The Trump administration is canceling flights for Afghans who fought alongside Americans in uniform.”

Meanwhile, the British government has announced that it does not intend to resettle hundreds of Afghan refugees stranded in Pakistan after Trump’s suspension of evacuation flights to the US.

Nazir Nazari, a migrant rights activist, told “Trump needs to consider the situation of refugees waiting for transfer in neighboring countries and take their problems into account.”

Meanwhile, several Afghan asylum seekers have urged the Trump administration to reconsider the suspension of the refugee transfer program to the US.

Masihullah, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan, said: “Afghans living in Islamabad are facing mental, psychological, economic, and security challenges. Our request to the US government is to address the problems of Afghan refugees.”

This comes as Donald Trump, after returning to the White House for a second term, signed orders suspending most US foreign aid programs, a move that halted the relocation and resettlement of over 40,000 Afghan citizens to the US.