Continue to Support Afghan Neighbors

The evacuation was just the beginning. We must continue to advocate for our Afghan neighbors in the U.S. and abroad. 

 For two decades, the U.S. Government worked with hundreds of thousands of Afghan allies to serve the U.S. mission as interpreters, translators, cultural advisors, drivers, NGO employees, human rights activists, and more. Because of their service to the U.S. mission, our allies and their families soon became the targets of anti-American violence.

In early 2021, before Afghanistan was making headlines, LIRS began pressing the White House to act to protect and evacuate our allies. We joined veterans’ groups, human rights organizations, and resettlement agencies to form the Evacuate our Allies coalition, and together, we advocated not only for the continued and urgent evacuation of in-country Afghans at-risk, but also the safety and rights of those who we have already welcomed to the United States.

Through Operation Allies Refuge, the U.S. evacuated more than 76,000 of our Afghan allies—but tens of thousands remain in harm’s way. Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, attacks against Afghan nationals who remain in-country and aided the U.S. mission have not ended. 

We must continue to protect and advocate for those at risk, including translators, human rights activists, journalists, LGBTQIA+ people, and religious and minority groups. Additionally, thousands of female judges, journalists, and activists have seen see their freedoms stripped away. LIRS and its partners remain steadfast in ensuring pathways of protection and a robust humanitarian response for the Afghan people who have been left behind.

LIRS has been at the forefront of advocacy for our Afghan neighbors since the beginning, and we are not stopping now. We stand ready to support and empower recently arrived Afghans  in the United States and to continue advocating for those left behind. We will continue our work to ensure their successful integration into our communities and will continue to advocate for the Afghan Adjustment Act, which offers a permanent status and sense of security to Afghans brought to the U.S. through the August 2021 evacuation.