After more than 20 years of occupation by the U.S. government under the far reaching military response to the 9/11 attacks and two years after the U.S. stopped its war in Afghanistan, many activists, and common citizens are locked up in camps.
Many women’s rights activists, lawyers, attorneys, and judges, as well as Afghan common citizens, are detained in camps run by the United States government or under its direction and facilitation. Recently, as reported by Democracy now!, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the human rights organization Muslim Advocates filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security to get data pertaining to the transfer and detention of Afghan civilians.
“People in Kosovo call Camp Bondsteel “Little Guantánamo” because of how bad it is there (…) What this lawsuit hopes to achieve is to provide more information to humanitarian, human rights and civil society organizations … to intervene and prevent the continued detention of these Afghan civilians,” says CCR attorney Sadaf Doost.
The American Embassy in Kosovo revealed to TIME that there are those among the arrivals who did not pass the verification, but they did not share information on the number of those who are unable to leave for the United States.
“We do not comment on individual cases.” Verification is extensive, time-consuming, and involves a number of federal departments. So far, thanks to Kosovo’s compassion, over 1000 Afghans who were evacuated from the Liya camp have been authenticated and sent to the United States. For those who are unable to go to the United States, the US Embassy in Kosovo will “work with international partners to identify countries that will accept the relocation of these Afghans.”
According to the Embassy, work is being done to complete the verification procedure for the remaining individuals.
“First and foremost, we want to express our gratitude on behalf of the United States to Kosovo for its generosity in sheltering Afghans in a vulnerable position. We have two priorities for the Afghans temporarily stationed at Camp Liya in Bondsteel: one, to safeguard vulnerable Afghans, and second, to preserve US national security. To that end, the U.S. government’s coordinated interagency team is working hard to vet Afghans in sensitive positions to assess if they can continue to the US.”
According to TIME sources, there are currently less than 100 refugees, including children, at the Liya camp. According to sources, more than 20 eyes did not pass the security screenings required to be granted refugee status in the United States.
Last year, around 130.000 Afghans requested asylum in European Union countries, with over 12.000 seeking asylum in January alone.
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