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JD Vance defends Trump’s order to suspend refugee program

Vance previously told CBS in August that he did not think Washington should abandon people who have “been properly vetted and actually helped us.”

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In his first interview since taking office, US Vice President JD Vance on Saturday defended President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders, and his suspension of the refugee program.

Speaking to CBS on Sunday night, Vance dismissed concerns that the White House was not prioritizing US economic fears, and argued that suspending the nation’s refugee admissions program was justified.

Hours after taking office on Jan. 20, Trump suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program, leaving thousands of Afghans stranded at airports, some of whom had worked with the US prior to its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Vance previously told CBS in August that he did not think Washington should abandon people who have “been properly vetted and actually helped us.”

The refugee program is an 18- to 24-month process that involves interviews, medical screenings and security vetting.

Refugee applicants must prove they are fleeing persecution before being allowed into the US.

Vance on Saturday seemed to reverse course, questioning whether the program had “properly vetted” the refugees.

“Now that we know that we have vetting problems with a lot of these refugee programs, we absolutely cannot unleash thousands of unvetted people into our country,” Vance declared, without detailing how the refugee program’s vetting process may be faulty.

He provided the example of an Afghan national who came to the US immediately after the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

The man was arrested in Oklahoma in October on federal charges of planning an election day terrorist attack in support of the Islamic State (Daesh).

“He was allegedly properly vetted, and many people in the media and the Democratic Party said that he was properly vetted,” Vance claimed of the suspect. “Clearly, he wasn’t.”

However, CBS News reported at the time that the suspect did not arrive via the refugee process. Instead, he was paroled into the country, like most Afghan evacuees, and allowed to live in the country temporarily under that immigration authority while he applied for a Special Immigrant Visa.

Afghans pulled from flights

Over 1,500 Afghans cleared by the US government to resettle in the US, including family members of active-duty US military personnel, have had their flights canceled under Trump’s order.

The group includes unaccompanied minors awaiting reunification with their families in the US as well as Afghans who fought for the former US-backed Afghan government, said Shawn VanDiver, head of the #AfghanEvac coalition of US veterans and advocacy groups and a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The US decision also leaves in limbo thousands of other Afghans who have been approved for resettlement as refugees in the US but have not yet been assigned flights from Afghanistan or from neighboring Pakistan, they said.

“Afghans and advocates are panicking,” said VanDiver.

VanDiver’s organization is the main coalition that has been working with the US government to evacuate and resettle Afghans in America.

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IEA urges neighboring countries to stop forced expulsions of Afghan refugees

Recently, Gandapur said the state and its institutions were responsible for the surge in militancy in KP.

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At a recent meeting of the Commission to Address Refugee Problems, Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi stressed that neighboring countries must stop forcibly expelling Afghan refugees.

Participants at the meeting addressed issues concerning the welfare of refugees, including the resolution of ongoing challenges they face, the facilitation of Afghan businessmen, and the prevention of forced deportations. They highlighted the pressing need for collaborative efforts to protect the rights and dignity of those displaced. Additionally, they called on international organizations for their assistance to effectively manage the refugee crisis and improve living conditions for Afghan nationals abroad. Meanwhile, Ali Amin Gandapur, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, stated on Sunday that his government would decide whether to follow Islamabad’s directives to expel Afghans residing in the province after March 31.

The federal government has asked Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave Pakistan voluntarily by March end, after which they’d be deported from the country.

But Gandapur slammed the federal government’s repatriation policy as “inhumane and oppressive”.

“I am not in favour of Afghans’ repatriation as per the policy of the federal government,” he said.

Gandapur said he, as the chief executive of KP, would decide whether Afghans should be forcefully repatriated or not by March 31, Dawn news reported. “I will decide what suits me, suits the culture and traditions of KP,” he said.

He said it was “wrong and inhuman” to forcefully send back Afghans without any arrangement for them in their country.

The forced repatriation of Afghans at a time when they had no facility in their country was a “violation of basic human rights”.

Gandapur also said the federal government had not contacted him on this issue and that he had been criticised when he suggested negotiations with Afghanistan, Dawn news reported.

Recently, Gandapur said the state and its institutions were responsible for the surge in militancy in KP.

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Muttaqi: IEA won’t fight against one country to satisfy another

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Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi has said that the Islamic Emirate has a balanced foreign policy and it will not fight for the happiness of one country against another.
 
Addressing Afghan diaspora in Oman, Muttaqi emphasized that the Islamic Emirate ensures security across the country in such a way that foreign meddling will be prevented.
 
“We have a balanced policy. Balanced policy means that for the happiness of one country, we do not fight with another. For the happiness of one country, we do not oppose the other. We want normal relations with all,” he said.
 
Muttaqi also rejected division within the IEA.
 
“The existence of differences, chaos and insecurity is not true. No matter how much propaganda is done, in practice you can see that no incidents happen in Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar, Jalalabad and Herat,” he said.
 
Muttaqi said that during his visit to Oman, he has sought to expand bilateral trade.
 
He also emphasized that after the return of Islamic Emirate, a serious fight against drugs has taken place in Afghanistan and they have managed to treat 400,000 drug addicts.
 
 
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Tornadoes strike US South, killing 33 people amid rising risk

In Arkansas, three deaths occurred, the state’s Department of Emergency Management said, adding that there were 32 injuries.

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Tornadoes killed at least 33 people across several states in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast on Saturday night, with at least 12 fatalities reported in Missouri, CNN reported.

More than 500 homes, a church and grocery store in Butler County were destroyed and a mobile home park had been “totally destroyed,” Robbie Myers, the director of emergency management for Missouri’s Butler County said.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves posted on X that six deaths had been reported in the state.

According to preliminary assessments, 29 people were injured statewide and 21 counties sustained storm damage, Reeves said.

In Arkansas, three deaths occurred, the state’s Department of Emergency Management said, adding that there were 32 injuries.

Twenty-six tornadoes were reported but not confirmed to have touched down late on Friday night and early on Saturday as a low-pressure system drove powerful thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri, said David Roth, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center.

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