At least 4,000 Afghans could arrive in Colombia after agreement with the United States

About 4,000 Afghans could arrive in the country following an agreement between the United States and the Colombian government, according to the Wall Street Journal. This would be done temporarily “until their papers are processed”, since they are part of the group of Afghans who have worked with the United States in the Asian country.

These Afghans are said to be people with refugee visas or who have been selected for migrant visas and those appointed for these processes with the US government, explained the Wall Street Journal, which also added that Duque officials have declined to comment on the theme.

“Our immediate task now is to fulfill our commitments to continue the safe evacuation of our citizens., nationals of partner countries and Afghans at risk, especially those who have contributed to our efforts, ”said Ned Price, spokesperson for the US State Department.

Apparently, the person in charge of the agreement between the two nations is Victoria Niland, Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the US State Department. Colombia’s will was reportedly spelled out in a document that was signed on August 15 with 100 other nations that expressed support for the Afghan people as much as possible.

America’s problems in getting its nationals out of Afghanistan

The United States was struggling Thursday to speed up evacuations of Americans and Afghans at Kabul airport, and is constrained by obstacles ranging from Taliban checkpoints to red tape. Tens of thousands of people are still waiting to be evacuated from the chaos that reigns in the country.

Taliban fighters and their checkpoints have surrounded the airport, large barriers for Afghans who fear their previous work with the West could make them the target of retaliation. Hundreds of Afghans without papers or evacuation permits were also gathered outside the airport, adding to the chaos that prevented even Afghans with documents and pledges of flights from reaching the terminal.

Another obstacle is that many Taliban fighters they couldn’t read the documents.

As a sign of hope, the spokesperson for the State Department Ned Price told Washington that 6,000 people were given the green light for the evacuation on Thursday and were due to board military flights in the next few hours. It would be a considerable increase over previous days. Some 2,000 passengers were taken away each of the previous two daysPentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

He added that the armed forces had planes to evacuate between 5,000 and 9,000 people a day, but that as of Thursday, fewer people designated for the evacuation had managed to reach and enter the airport.

Kirby told reporters that the limiting factor had been the availability of evacuees, not planes. He noted that They were making efforts to speed up processing, including increasing the number of consular officers who check the papers of Americans and Afghans who went to the terminal. He said additional entrances had been opened.

However, at the current rate, it would be difficult for the United States to evacuate all eligible Americans and Afghans by August 31. Yesterday. President Joe Bieden clarified that US troops could stay after that date if evacuation targets were not met.

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