Noyes leads US charge on Afghan refugee crisis

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A senior Biden Administration official coping with refugee points will start a four-day go to to Islamabad on Monday, the primary in a sequence of visits by American officers as relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan deteriorate.

Julieta Valls Noyes, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Inhabitants, Refugees, and Migration, will arrive in Islamabad on Monday. She’s going to stay in Islamabad till Thursday.

Following her go to on December 7, US Particular Envoy for Afghanistan Tom West will arrive in Islamabad. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Horst will arrive on December 9 following his go to.

The flurry of American visits coincides with Pakistan’s resolution to deport all unlawful Afghans, rising tensions with the Afghan Taliban over the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the upcoming basic elections in February.

“Pakistan and the US proceed to seek the advice of on numerous points.” “Trade of visits takes place to advance these consultations,” Overseas Workplace spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch mentioned in an announcement, offering context for the visits.

“These visits are a part of a unbroken dialogue with the US on a variety of points, together with, however not restricted to, the state of affairs in Afghanistan,” she mentioned.

Following the expiration of the October 31 deadline, Pakistan has launched a crackdown on Afghans residing illegally within the nation. Since then, the US has been in touch with Pakistan to make sure that Afghans who had been eligible for immigration to the US weren’t deported.

In keeping with Washington, there are roughly 25,000 Afghans in Pakistan awaiting immigration to the US. These Afghans assisted the US throughout its army marketing campaign in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, following the withdrawal of the US, they’ve been stranded in Pakistan, awaiting the completion of the immigration course of.

The USA has been collaborating with Pakistan to discover a workable answer to forestall such Afghans from being deported to Afghans.