US appoints new coordinator for Afghans’ evacuation process

KABUL (Pajhwok):The US State Department has appointed Elizabeth Jones, a former US diplomat, as coordinator for the resettlement of Afghan evacuees.

According to reports, US State Department spokeswoman, Ned Price said on Tuesday that Elizabeth Jones had previously served as Deputy Secretary of State and then as US Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Price said she would monitor the evacuation of Afghan citizens from Afghanistan until they are resettled in the US.

He added that Washington is focusing its efforts on relocating and resettling vulnerable Afghans first.

He said the move would make the process of evacuation and resettlement more helpful for vulnerable evacuees, as well as facilitating coordination between US departments and its international partners.

Evacuation operation from Afghanistan continued from August 15 to August 30 this year, during which 125,000 people, mostly Afghans, were evacuated and now more than 50,000 of them have been moved to military bases in the US.

However, tens of thousands of people are still trying to leave Afghanistan; they include foreign nationals, civil society activists, journalists, ‌ human rights and women's activists and SIV visa seekers.

Mds/ma