By Priscilla Alvarez and Haley Britzky, CNN
An Afghan boy walks with a US service member through the Dulles International Airport on 31 August 2021 after being evacuated from Kabul as the US withdrew its troops. Photo: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images / AFP
Refugees who were slated to travel to the United States after a years-long and often cumbersome process have had their flights cancelled, according to a State Department memo to resettlement partners obtained by CNN.
The memo comes on the heels of President Donald Trump's executive order suspending refugee admissions and marks another example of the swift impact his actions are already having. The move stands to affect thousands of refugees who had flights already scheduled.
"All previously scheduled travel of refugees to the United States is being cancelled, and no new travel bookings will be made. RSCs should not request travel for any additional refugee cases at this time," the memo states, citing the president's executive order.
Approximately 10,000 refugees had travel booked, which is now cancelled, according to a source familiar with the data. A breakdown by country was not immediately available, but refugees generally come from a range of countries, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela, Syria and Burma.
The cancellations could be particularly troubling for refugees whose medical exams or security checks, for example, are on the cusp of expiring. The memo also states that case processing is suspended, effectively shuttering the programme.
"Additionally, all refugee case processing and pre-departure activities are also suspended. RSCs and IOM should not move refugees to transit centers in anticipation of travel and should halt all pre-departure activities for refugee cases. No new referrals should be made into the USRAP," the memo continues.
Special Immigrant Visa holders, which includes those who worked for the US abroad, are exempt. They can travel to the United States, according to the memo. Those refugees who are already in the United States can also continue to receive services.
CNN has reached out to the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration for comment.
For the last several years, a State Department office charged with the relocation efforts of Afghan allies and partners - the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, or CARE - has been flying eligible people from Afghanistan to third-party countries, including Pakistan and Qatar, to finish processing to come to the US. This includes Afghans who are not SIV holders. Now, a government official told CNN, the individuals in those countries who are not on SIVs are essentially "stuck" in those countries at US-government managed sites.
"It is not clear what is going to happen to those individuals," the official said. "They could be stuck there, we don't know for how long."
There are more than 1000 Afghan refugees in Doha, the official said, and several thousand, up to as many as 10,000, in Pakistan. But there are other Afghan refugees in "many, many countries around the world … whose cases will now just be stopped," the official said.
And without a clear path to the US from those third-party countries, the official said refugees will be taken off flight manifests out of Afghanistan, leaving people in the country for an unclear amount of time who had soon expected to leave.
The cancellation of flights and pause on cases puts potentially tens of thousands of Afghan refugees, including those who aided the US during the war but have not received SIV status, around the world at risk, according to #AfghanEvac, a coalition of organisations advocating for bringing Afghans to safety since the end of the war in Afghanistan in 2021. The move "endangers thousands who risked their lives for US missions" in Afghanistan, #AfghanEvac said Wednesday, including families of US troops, Afghan partner forces, "and women pilots who trained and fought alongside US troops".
Trump's executive order, which he signed Monday, stated that the United States was unable to absorb the influx of migrants over the recent years in addition to refugees, giving way to the administration suspending the US refugee admissions programme "until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States".
The suspension was to take effect on 27 January, according to the order. The memo implies that it takes effect immediately.
The situation at the US southern border is separate from the refugee programme, which dates back decades and has a thorough vetting process in place for refugees overseas to resettle in the US. But the crackdown on refugees is in line with the administration's immigration agenda, which seeks to limit entry to the US on the basis of public safety and national security.
Under former President Joe Biden, the cap on refugee admissions to the United States was set at 125,000 people a year.
- CNN
