Qismat Amin is safe. Tragically, his family is not. The former Afghan translator tells BuzzFeed News that he’s spent multiple sleepless nights worried about his family in Jalalabad. A brother is also a former translator. His name is not revealed for his own safety. “The family has taken to hiding in their home, he said, leaving only to get food when necessary,” the report said. “His mother has stashed all of his brother’s documents in case someone comes looking for them.”
During a Thursday appearance on MSNBC’s The Reidout, Amin said his brother can’t make the roughly two-hour journey from Jalalabad to Kabul to even try to see if he could get an evacuation flight. “All these checkpoints are being controlled by Taliban,” Amin said. Carrying documents indicating work with the American government could be incredibly dangerous. “The odds are that they will find you.”
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) Policy Director Sunil Varghese told BuzzFeed News that the organization has received “desperate messages” from other Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants who are also stranded in Afghanistan. The report said that the group this week “filed a series of emergency petitions with the State Department to help Afghan applicants in the SIV process.”
“I do not know when [it] is my turn but they will find me too,” one applicant said in the report. He said he knew of numerous interpreter deaths at the hands of the Taliban. “I do pray not just for myself but for all my teammates to stay safe and find a chance to refuge from Afghanistan alive and live in a secure place,” he continued. “I do not want to hear any bad news regarding my teammates … who have provided services for years to both the U.S. and Afghan government and I love them all.”
Amin’s brother has been in the application process for years, first applying in 2014, Matthew Ball told BuzzFeed News. The U.S. Army ranger housed Amin after he got his visa in 2017, after four years of waiting. Amin’s brother’s application was initially rejected “because he failed a language test and lost his job,” the report said, noting it featured “a glowing recommendation” from an Army official. They again reapplied in August. Amin’s brother “should not be waiting for an SIV in 2021,” Ball continued in the report. He called it “infuriating.”
“Between endless red tape, slashed refugee admissions, and new ‘extreme vetting’ measures, the U.S. has made it all but impossible for its wartime partners to get the safe passage they were promised,” IRAP tweeted last October. “And the stakes couldn't be higher for those left behind.” The words have only become even more terrifyingly true today.
Amin was asked MSNBC’s Joy Reid if he’s received any word from the Biden administration about his brother’s application being expedited. “I mean to be completely honest with you, nothing so far, but the whole thing is just a chaos right now,” he responded. He described people unable to get to the airport, and noted an account of a U.S. green card holder being unable to reach an evacuation flight.
“At this point, I mean we’re not getting any assurance from the government, or from the administration to assure me that ‘hey, you know, your brother or your family will make it,’” he continued. “But at this point, I’m just hoping, you know, having a conversation with you guys, having a conversation with, you know, with other folks, and you know, trying to pull all the contacts and connections that I have in the U.S., to kinda figure out what do I need to do at this point because the family is going to be stuck there ...”
In a Twitter thread, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) President Krish O'Mara Vignarajah said the Biden administration “must leverage every possible means to secure safe passage for all those who wish to flee to reach the airport. At this juncture, one misstep in the streets of Kabul could be a literal death sentence.”
“We cannot in good conscience tie a life-or-death humanitarian operation to the current August 31 timeline unless we act more swiftly,” O'Mara Vignarajah continued. “Our government made a commitment; abandonment is not an option. We must continue this lifesaving work until the mission is fulfilled. If political will matches military might, the U.S. can still implement the boldest evacuation in modern history. But that window of opportunity is just inches away from closing.”
During a Thursday appearance on MSNBC’s The Reidout, Amin said his brother can’t make the roughly two-hour journey from Jalalabad to Kabul to even try to see if he could get an evacuation flight. “All these checkpoints are being controlled by Taliban,” Amin said. Carrying documents indicating work with the American government could be incredibly dangerous. “The odds are that they will find you.”
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) Policy Director Sunil Varghese told BuzzFeed News that the organization has received “desperate messages” from other Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants who are also stranded in Afghanistan. The report said that the group this week “filed a series of emergency petitions with the State Department to help Afghan applicants in the SIV process.”
“I do not know when [it] is my turn but they will find me too,” one applicant said in the report. He said he knew of numerous interpreter deaths at the hands of the Taliban. “I do pray not just for myself but for all my teammates to stay safe and find a chance to refuge from Afghanistan alive and live in a secure place,” he continued. “I do not want to hear any bad news regarding my teammates … who have provided services for years to both the U.S. and Afghan government and I love them all.”
Amin’s brother has been in the application process for years, first applying in 2014, Matthew Ball told BuzzFeed News. The U.S. Army ranger housed Amin after he got his visa in 2017, after four years of waiting. Amin’s brother’s application was initially rejected “because he failed a language test and lost his job,” the report said, noting it featured “a glowing recommendation” from an Army official. They again reapplied in August. Amin’s brother “should not be waiting for an SIV in 2021,” Ball continued in the report. He called it “infuriating.”
“Between endless red tape, slashed refugee admissions, and new ‘extreme vetting’ measures, the U.S. has made it all but impossible for its wartime partners to get the safe passage they were promised,” IRAP tweeted last October. “And the stakes couldn't be higher for those left behind.” The words have only become even more terrifyingly true today.
Amin was asked MSNBC’s Joy Reid if he’s received any word from the Biden administration about his brother’s application being expedited. “I mean to be completely honest with you, nothing so far, but the whole thing is just a chaos right now,” he responded. He described people unable to get to the airport, and noted an account of a U.S. green card holder being unable to reach an evacuation flight.
“At this point, I mean we’re not getting any assurance from the government, or from the administration to assure me that ‘hey, you know, your brother or your family will make it,’” he continued. “But at this point, I’m just hoping, you know, having a conversation with you guys, having a conversation with, you know, with other folks, and you know, trying to pull all the contacts and connections that I have in the U.S., to kinda figure out what do I need to do at this point because the family is going to be stuck there ...”
In a Twitter thread, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) President Krish O'Mara Vignarajah said the Biden administration “must leverage every possible means to secure safe passage for all those who wish to flee to reach the airport. At this juncture, one misstep in the streets of Kabul could be a literal death sentence.”
“We cannot in good conscience tie a life-or-death humanitarian operation to the current August 31 timeline unless we act more swiftly,” O'Mara Vignarajah continued. “Our government made a commitment; abandonment is not an option. We must continue this lifesaving work until the mission is fulfilled. If political will matches military might, the U.S. can still implement the boldest evacuation in modern history. But that window of opportunity is just inches away from closing.”