Afghan diaspora in trouble after closure of diplomatic missions in US

ATLANTA (Pajhwok): Afghans living in the US have expressed their deep concern over the closure of Afghanistan’s embassy and other diplomatic missions and said they will face problems in the future.

NaseerYasini, Afghanistan Cultural Association head in California, expressed deep concern over the closure of Afghanistan diplomatic missions and said Afghan diaspora in the US will be faced with major issues.

He said the Afghan embassy and consulate generals had stopped most of their activities after the takeover of new government, adding that only birth certificates and other documents were issued.

“Afghans living in the US are now in trouble, some Afghans with expiring green cards will not be able to renew their passports and thus they may not be able to travel to Afghanistan or any other destination,” he said.

A US based Afghan political expert Mohammad Shafiq Hamdam said there was no doubt that the Afghan embassy and diplomatic missions were highly corrupt institutions but their closure would create a huge vacuum.

He said over 100,000 Afghans had newly arrived in the US and hundreds of thousands stayed from the past several years and all of them needed embassy and consulate generals for some relevant activities.

Hamdam said Afghans living in the US direly needed diplomatic service, adding that these missions were closed at a time when no other institution was there to serve Afghans.

He said some countries may not maintain diplomatic relationship with one another but for the sake of people they should allow diplomatic mission to remain opened.

Earlier, according to a statement from Afghanistan’s embassy in Washington, the embassy in Washington and consulates in New York and Los Angeles were shut down due to severe resource constraints and growing challenges.

The embassy said the Afghan diplomatic missions faced growing operational challenges and severe resource constraints due to the freezing of its bank accounts.

It added the diplomatic missions had sought assistance from the Department of State and it suggested transferring custodial responsibility of the embassy and other missions to the US government in accordance with the Vienna Convention as the only viable option.

nh/ma