US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday that the department has renewed a memorandum of understanding on the transfer of its Afghan colleagues to the United States.
Blinken stressed that the United States will always abide by its commitment to support its partners.
On Wednesday, January 8, Blinken announced on his account on social media platform X the extension of the US State Department's memorandum of understanding with Afghan Evac.
It is a coalition of organisations that assist the United States in the relocation and resettlement of Afghans.
The US Secretary of State said that the United States will continue its vital cooperation with the organisation to transfer people who have been with the United States for 20 years.
The US State Department has announced the extension of the transfer process of its Afghan colleagues while in recent days, Afghan refugees eligible for transfer to the United States have faced arrest and deportation in Pakistan.
In the past few days, a number of Afghan refugees who are waiting to go to Western countries have been detained by Pakistani police. According to reports, Pakistani police have deported a large number of these refugees to Afghanistan after conducting biometric tests at the Haji Camp on the outskirts of Rawalpindi.
Earlier, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to support efforts to transfer Washington's Afghan partners to the United States, and called for the appointment of a coordinator in the US State Department to address these efforts.
According to the text of the 2024 Afghan Relocation Efforts Authorisation Act, which was published on the congressional website, the coordinator will be responsible for "relocating eligible Afghan allies, facilitating the exit from Afghanistan for US citizens and permanent US residents."
In addition, according to the bill, the State Department coordinator will support the efforts of the department and the US government to resettle and relocate Afghans.
The US State Department announced last month that it had relocated 183,000 Afghan citizens, including their local colleagues, to the United States in the past three years.
