The U.S. State Department has announced that over the past three years, 183,000 Afghan citizens, including local partners, have been relocated to the United States. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a ceremony honoring organizations and individuals involved in the evacuation and resettlement of Afghan refugees, emphasized the need to accelerate this process.
Blinken stated that since the fall of Afghanistan in 2021, the U.S. has resettled thousands of Afghan families. He added that the Afghan relocation program is currently operating at nearly double the pace compared to last year.
Richard Verma, Deputy Secretary of State, confirmed the number of relocated Afghans as 183,000. Blinken called for urgent measures to expedite the resettlement process in third countries and to expand access to Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs).
“We must identify more countries willing to provide permanent resettlement for Afghans and work with Congress to expand these programs,” Blinken said.