US to house evacuated Afghan interpreters at Virginia military base

Following the withdrawal of the American military from Afghanistan, the United States will be using a military base in Virginia to temporarily house Afghan interpreters, who helped the US army and are now fleeing their home country, officials said on Monday.

As the war ended after 20 years, around 700 interpreters and other Afghans will be taken to Fort Lee, an army post in southern Virginia, along with immediate family members, for a total of around 2,500 people, State Department spokesman Ned Price said, according to AFP inputs.

The interpreter worked for the United States in their battle against the Taliban and now fear for their lives as the Islamist military organisation is making rapid gains in Afghanistan. They are among some 20,000 who have applied for asylum under so-called Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs).

“These are brave Afghans,” Price said, “who have completed thorough SIV security vetting processes.”

“They will be provided temporary housing and services as they complete the final steps,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that Afghan interpreters could go to other military installations as well and that he did not expect most of them to stay beyond a few days as they are in the final stages of their SIV process.

“You have to remember that these people and their families are in the very final stages of the SIV process so there’s just not a need for them to be on a military installation for long before they’ll work through the resettlement process,” Kirby said.

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The White House has said that some 20,000 Afghans have applied to move to the United States under the program.

Afghans in the early phases of their cases would be flown to other nations that have not been publicly disclosed, as well as US military sites overseas, authorities added.

The United States last week announced what it called Operation Allies Refuge to pull out interpreters amid mounting concerns for their safety in Afghanistan and the long delays in processing their applications.

US officials initially were concerned about setting off panic but planned the operation as the Taliban makes rapid gains ahead of the August 31 end of the mission launched shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.