U.S. resettlement agencies involved in helping about 72,000 Afghan evacuees brought to the U.S. in 2021 and 2022 faced racism, sexism and verbal abuse from some of the evacuees, according to a report by the U.S.’s inspector general. Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The IG’s review looked at the resettlement of tens of thousands of evacuees who were granted humanitarian parole to enter the US after the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Inspector General’s Office found that the nine groups faced a slew of problems and faced challenges. a company.
“Officials from (Resettlement Agency) told OIG that the (Afghan Placement and Assistance Program) presented some of the greatest challenges they had ever faced,” the report said.
The agencies, non-profit organizations also involved in supporting regular refugee resettlement, identified a host of issues, including the rapid pace of arrivals compared to the 11,840 refugees they resettled in fiscal year 2020. Other issues included the COVID-19 pandemic and complications related to housing, staffing and cultural orientation.
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Among those cultural issues, agencies described “inappropriate behavior” of some parolees that they attributed to a lack of cultural orientation.
In this image from the US Marine Corps, evacuees wait to board a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. (AP/Sergeant Isaiah Campbell/US Marine Corps)
“For example, some RA employees reported experiencing racism and sexism from Afghan clients who were unaccustomed to the norms of American society,” the report said.
Agencies reported that some parolees refused to work with women or minority group case managers. One agency reported that “a few local offices had issues with verbal abuse from Afghans, mostly those upset or frustrated by the process.”
“Many parolees had very high expectations and did not understand the role of local affiliates and became frustrated with services and housing,” the report said.
Nine groups were involved in the resettlement and received grants of $2,275 per capita, of which $1,225 was earmarked for direct relief. The resettlement was coordinated by the Population, Refugees and Migration Office (PRM).
The report also highlighted “unrealistic expectations” of some parolees regarding the resettlement process. For example, a number of agencies said some had been told they would receive “welcome money” when they arrived. Others had unrealistic housing expectations and would therefore reject the housing offered to them as inadequate or of inferior quality. Some who had worked as professionals or obtained advanced degrees in Afghanistan “often thought they would be appointed to positions within their chosen field”.
The agencies recommended that PRM adopt measures including “standardized minimum cultural orientation requirements that emphasize self-reliance, manage expectations, and convey American societal expectations for behavior related to gender, race, and sexual issues.”
The report also noted challenges related to mental and physical health issues, with some arriving with COVID-19 or having experienced trauma or family separation.
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The report concluded that the resettlement was “an unprecedented and demanding effort that posed significant challenges for the nine RAs implementing the program.”
However, it found that many of the challenges were beyond the PRM’s control and also found that the agencies praised the funding provided through the program and what they said was “unparalleled coordination among federal agencies” in supporting the resettlement program.
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The report is more positive than previous reports from several inspectors general, who criticized the vetting process for the evacuation and warned that threats to national security may have entered the US
On Thursday, the White House released its review of the 2021 withdrawal, defending President Biden’s decision to withdraw and calling his decision “the right thing for the country.” The review acknowledges that the evacuation of Americans and allies from Afghanistan should have started earlier, but blames the delays on the Afghan government and military, and on the assessments of the US military and intelligence agencies.
Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
He can be reached at [email protected] or at Twitter.
