Once it became clear last summer that the Afghan government would fall, the highest priority became the quick and safe evacuation of Americans, eligible Afghans and other allies. After that, the Defense and State Departments were responsible for providing them housing and services. Those teams included Hila Hanif, director of Afghanistan strategy and policy at DoD, and Holly Herrera, chief of domestic resettlement at the State Department.
- Herrera said her office has been running a refugee resettlement program for decades but the Afghanistan operation was “unprecedented.”
- Hanif said she and her colleagues had been preparing for months for a possible evacuation scenario, thinking through logistics, immigration issues and military bases that could be used as temporary housing for refugees.
Watch the interview for more:
SEE ALSO | US ‘putting a smaller lid on the cauldron of Somalia’ with troop deployment, says news editor
Sgt. Simranjeet Lidder, a translator assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, helps American Red Cross volunteers pass out supplies by translating what the Afghan evacuees need on Sept. 9, 2021. The Department of Defense, through the U.S. Northern Command, and in support of the Department of Homeland Security, provided transportation, temporary housing, medical screening, and general support for at least 50,000 Afghan evacuees at suitable facilities (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Khalan Moore, 24th Theater Public Affairs Support Element)
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken tours evacuation operations at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on September 8, 2021. (State Department photo by Ron Przysucha)
A U.S. service member high-fives a child who was evacuated from Afghanistan Aug. 21, 2021, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. As part of the Afghanistan evacuaton, service members supported evacuees that departed Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Noah D. Coger)
U.S. Air Force Airmen unload luggage from a C-17 Globemaster at Pristina International Airport in Pristina, Kosovo, September 20, 2021. U.S.-affiliated Afghans temporarily stayed in Kosovo during onward movement to the United States (Photo from U.S. Defense Department)
Prev
Next
