US decision to cancel Afghan refugee resettlement exposes Western hypocrisy
World
The international community must hold US and EU accountable for their bans
(Web Desk) – An executive order by US President Donald Trump to suspend resettlement of all refugees, including Afghans, for an indefinite period is being seen as a betrayal of those who supported the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and NATO in Afghanistan.
Nearly 1,660 Afghans cleared by the US government to resettle in the US, including family members of active-duty US military personnel, are in limbo since the Trump-led administration took extreme decision.
The order has left them stranded while it is expecting from Pakistan, which has hosted millions of Afghans for decades on humanitarian grounds, to share the burden again.
Instead of easing the burden, the US ban has only intensified challenges for Pakistan and other neighbouring host countries.
Furthermore, the western countries, which have been criticising Pakistan for repatriation of illegal immigrants, are refusing to accept refugees by giving lame excuses, abandoning Afghan refugees when they need help the most.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Amnesty International and the EU keep an eye on Pakistan’s policies while there is no focus on the hypocrisy being showed by the Western countries by banning refugees after using them as pawns.
The international community must hold the US and EU accountable for their bans and pressure them to contribute fairly to managing the Afghan refugee crisis.
Trump made an immigration crackdown a major promise of his victorious 2024 election campaign, leaving the fate of US refugee programmes up in the air.
The State Department on Wednesday implemented the order, announcing that all refugee arrivals were indefinitely suspended, all previously scheduled travel cancelled and new refugee applications, as well those in process, were suspended.
