US restricts people’s access to Kabul airport

Washington is changing its policy on who would be admitted into the Kabul airport, Report informs, referring to CNN.

From August 23 on, only American citizens and green card holders, and citizens of NATO countries would be allowed past the airport’s gates.

Applicants for the US Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, which is an avenue for Afghans who worked for US government forces and agencies to get out of the country, would not be allowed into the airport, the source said.

They said the Taliban were now helping filter candidates seeking to enter the airport by checking their documentation. Only immediate family members such as spouses and children can be brought onto the base by eligible US or NATO citizens.

Even with the new restrictions, thousands of Afghans, mostly military-aged males with ‘no documentation,’ remained on the airport grounds, the source said. They had arrived on the second day during the ‘everyone gets in’ lapse in filtering entrants.

The source said there were ‘no plans to kick people off the airport,’ potentially leaving thousands in limbo.

One reason for the chaos was the decision to issue electronic visas, without names or document numbers, to SIV applicants. The visas were then copied as screenshots and sent by Afghans to thousands of other Afghans who were not eligible for access to the airport, a source told CNN at the weekend.

Families were being separated and sent to different countries, the source added. This was ‘not by design and not really the fault of US officials, but they’re either choosing to come in separately, or getting separated on the way in,’ they said.