While Washington Center for Human Rights applauds rumors of a special parole program for Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression, the center urges the Biden administration to undertake similar humanitarian protection efforts for Afghans and others across the world facing human rights violations and persecution.
The establishment of a Ukrainian special parole program to welcome Ukrainians escaping Russian aggression is an essential step in responding to Europe’s rising refugee crisis, together with other initiatives to relocate refugees from Ukraine. Human Rights First is deeply disappointed by the administration’s failure to establish a specific parole program for at-risk Afghans, as well as their failure to process and approve the tens of thousands of Afghan humanitarian parole requests received and pending since August 2021, as they, too, flee mortal danger from the Taliban. As famine grips the country and a well-documented retaliation campaign against former American allies and other vulnerable Afghans, such as women and human rights defenders, the time has come for similar humanitarian action to save those who are at risk following America’s longest war.
Over 200 human rights, spiritual, legal, and social service organizations wrote to Secretary Mayorkas in February to make this request. The Department’s most recent answer to that request was grossly inadequate. Nearly 90% of our Afghan partners who qualified for the Special Immigrant Visa program were not included in the Non-combatant Evacuation Operation, which concluded on August 31, 2021. An extra 40,000 Afghans were urged to apply for Humanitarian Parole, with just a small percentage of applications being approved.
“Just as exempting solely Ukrainians from Title 42 made clear the lack of a public health justification for that policy and further exposed the disparate treatment of Black and brown asylum-seekers at our border, the creation of a special parole program for Ukrainians without taking similar steps for Afghans would be gravely disappointing,” said Robyn Barnard, senior advocacy counsel for Refugee Protection. “The Biden administration must take urgent steps now, such as creating an Afghan parole program and generously approving parole requests for Afghans, to protect and bring at-risk Afghans to safety who cannot wait for the U.S. resettlement program to be rebuilt.”
Washington Center for Human Rights believes that President Biden must do more to keep America’s pledge. Tens of thousands of Afghans who were left behind as a result of the failed evacuation must be given the same opportunity as European migrants. Without equivalent decisive action, the United States would have shown that its immigration system is founded on a racially inequitable vision of who is and is not deserving of protection.
Washington Center for Human Rights asks the United States to ensure that all refugees, regardless of race, religion, or nationality, get U.S. refugee protection, including access to asylum at its own borders.
We believe that the Biden administration can and should move quickly to offer humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians escaping a terrible and unwarranted Russian attack. We have been encouraged by the administration’s efforts in recent weeks to give much needed safety to Ukrainians. The tens of thousands of Afghans who have been abandoned by the American administration, on the other hand, need the same amount of assistance. If the Biden administration can establish a parole program in Ukraine, it can definitely keep its commitment to Afghans.