The first wave of Afghans with special immigrant visa (SIV) applications are en route to Fort Lee, Virginia, from Afghanistan, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
Around 221 individuals departed from Afghanistan on July 29 and will arrive in Dulles, Virginia, late Thursday or early Friday morning, the sources confirmed. The individuals will be bussed to Fort Lee, Virginia, where they will remain for around one week.
The group of Afghans are the first to be evacuated from the country and many more are still waiting. Around 18,000 Afghan nationals have applied for SIVs, and that number doesn’t include family members of those who aided the U.S. during the war.
Those on the current flight received an evacuation email around a week prior to departure, one source told the Daily Caller. The email, reviewed by the Caller, noted that “the rest of the [evacuation] process is going to happen very quickly.” (RELATED: Taliban Says US Troops Must Leave By Deadline Or Risk Being Considered Occupiers)
“We recognize that the urgency might be stressful – please reply if you have question or concerns. Someone will help you,” the email noted.
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN – MARCH 06: A U.S. Army soldier from the 1st Battalion 17th Infantry Regiment speaks to an Afghan policeman (C) through an interpreter on March 6, 2010 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The U.S. military is expected to launch a major offensive against Taliban insurgents in Kandahar in upcoming months, following its recent operation in Marja in neighboring Helmand province. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
The email added that a medical appointment was required to fly. While an option to reschedule was offered, officials warned that missing the medical exam could result in the individual not being able to board the flight to America.
Around 2,500 Afghan interpreters and their families are scheduled to be transported to Fort Lee in total. There will be around two more flights in the initial push to transport individuals to the U.S. and then ongoing flights to follow, according to one source. These flights haven’t yet been officially scheduled. The next two flights are likely to occur around Aug. 1 and Aug. 4, the source added.
Senior U.S. commanders identified the risk of an airliner being shot down as “a major concern” early on in the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told the Caller. Perhaps as a result, the administration has only publicly given general time frames on when the flights would begin leaving the country.
America is still probing countries willing to house the remaining Afghan interpreters. Kuwait and Qatar are two likely areas, according to U.S. officials.
There has been increased urgency over the past few months to remove Afghans who helped the U.S. in the past as the country withdraws from Afghanistan. The Taliban is taking over districts and reportedly beheaded an interpreter for the U.S. Army – a move that represents the dangers that those who helped America now face.
The White House announced “Operation Allies Refuge” on July 14 in an attempt to help relocate Afghan interpreters and translators. At the time, the administration noted the evacuation process would begin at the end of July.
It remains unclear what the evacuation process for the remainder of eligible Afghans will look like exactly. One source noted that a potential option is to use cruise ships to house refugees who didn’t pass the vetting process and may be transported to Persian Gulf states. This source noted that there are still discussions sorting out where the thousands of those individuals go once out of Afghanistan.