Foreign aid pause by President Donald Trump, causing the suspension of flights for more than 40,000 Afghans who received special US visas and putting their lives at risk owing to possible retribution by the Taliban. Most of these people are stranded in Afghanistan while various others are in Pakistan, Qatar, and Albania. The foreign development aid stoppage rested on his order, which also indicated that this aid would be reviewed at some point for efficiencies and also its consistency with his “America First” foreign policy.
Experts and advocacy groups have stated that the aid stoppage has caused mayhem for US and international aid operations, interrupting nutritional, health, vaccination, and other programs. The State Department has also stopped funding groups helping Afghans on Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) to find housing, schools, and jobs in the U.S.
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Shawn VanDiver, who heads the group #AfghanEvac, expressed hope that the administration would find ways to exempt Afghans approved for SIVs, as they worked for the U.S. during the 20-year war. According to reports, the Taliban detained, tortured, and killed former soldiers and officials of the prior U.S.-backed government, notwithstanding their issuance of a general amnesty.
The suspension of flights now has SIV holders waiting to fly to the U.S. from visa-processing centers in Qatar and Albania, while others wait in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nearly 200,000 Afghans have been resettled in the U.S. under SIVs or as refugees since the disorganized withdrawal of the U.S. in 2021.
In a separate executive order, Trump also suspended all US programs for refugee resettlement; thus hundreds of Afghan refugees, including family members of active-duty Afghan American military personnel, former Afghan soldiers, and unaccompanied minors, lost their seats on flights.