RASC News Agency: The United States has resumed its long-stalled Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) resettlement program for Afghanistani nationals who served alongside American forces and government institutions during the two-decade war in Afghanistan. The restart comes at a crucial time, as thousands remain stranded in precarious conditions across the region, particularly due to the repressive rule of the Taliban, whose return to power has unleashed a wave of fear, persecution, and displacement. In a statement published Wednesday, June 18, on the social platform X (formerly Twitter), a leading refugee support organization announced that Afghanistani SIV holders who have arrived in the United States within the past 90 days should immediately contact official resettlement agencies to begin accessing essential support services. These include assistance with housing, enrollment in English language courses, employment training, legal guidance, and access to healthcare.
The organization emphasized that the program remains open to all eligible Afghanistani SIV recipients, including those who have not yet entered the United States. Upon arrival, they too will be granted full access to resettlement services designed to ensure a stable and dignified start to life in the U.S. The resettlement process had faced significant disruption over the past year, hindered by bureaucratic inertia and logistical obstacles that left over 40,000 approved visa holders in limbo. The majority of these individuals interpreters, security personnel, engineers, aid workers, and civil servants were targets of Taliban retribution, and many had already faced harassment, detention, or threats to their lives simply for their association with U.S. forces.
Despite former President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at curbing immigration from Muslim-majority nations, Afghanistani SIV recipients were exempt from such bans due to the unique nature of their service and the legal commitments enshrined in U.S. congressional mandates. The resumption of the SIV resettlement program represents a partial but vital fulfillment of the United States’ moral and legal obligations. It also underscores the devastating consequences of the Taliban’s return to power particularly for those who had championed human rights, gender equality, press freedom, and democratic governance in Afghanistan.
Since seizing control in 2021, the Taliban has systematically dismantled state institutions, imposed gender apartheid, silenced dissenting voices, and driven tens of thousands into exile. Many former government employees and civil society actors have either gone into hiding or fled the country altogether. Women professionals, journalists, and minority groups continue to suffer under one of the most repressive regimes in the world. In this context, the SIV program is more than a migration pathway it is a humanitarian lifeline. For thousands of Afghanistani allies who risked everything in pursuit of a freer future, the chance to resettle in the United States is both a promise honored and a new beginning far from Taliban tyranny.
Human rights organizations are now urging the U.S. government to not only expedite processing for pending applications but also expand eligibility to include those at-risk Afghanistani nationals who worked with NGOs, international media, and advocacy groups, many of whom are equally endangered by Taliban policies. As the situation inside Afghanistan continues to deteriorate under Taliban misrule, the international community particularly those nations who once deployed forces and funds in the name of democracy and peace must act swiftly to protect those left behind.
