KABUL, 13 March 2022, (TON): State Department officials said “without the backing of a recognized government or money to keep the lights on, Afghanistan’s embassy to the United States is shutting down.”
The officials said “Afghan diplomats, who were appointed by the former U.S.-backed government and could be under threat by the ruling Taliban if they return home, have 30 days to apply for residency or temporary humanitarian parole to remain in the United States before they risk being deported.”
Although they would not be sent back to Afghanistan, it is not clear where else the diplomats would go, said the officials, who openly hoped the situation would not reach that point.
Around 25 diplomats about one-fourth of the estimated 100 who worked at the Afghan Embassy in Washington or the country’s consulates in New York and Los Angeles have yet to apply to remain, said two State Department officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue more frankly.
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