The Church of the Brethren’s Office of Peacebuilding and Policy is one of 88 faith organizations and 219 faith leaders sending a letter to President Biden urging him to provide a robust humanitarian response to the crisis in Afghanistan and to expand opportunities for Afghans to seek refuge in the US.
The Office of Peacebuilding and Policy initiated a meeting within the faith offices based in Washington, D.C., to share information and jointly plan and work together with regard to Afghanistan. Along with Brethren Disaster Ministries, its staff are in conversation about incoming refugees with partners such as Church World Service.
The letter was sent out under the auspices of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. It called for “providing clear pathways to protection for all Afghans seeking refuge from violence. Such pathways include, but are not limited to: ensuring safe pathways out of Afghanistan and evacuating Afghan allies to US territories (e.g., Guam) for processing (until all 18,000 SIV applicants and their loved ones have been evacuated); expanding US refugee resettlement numbers and capacity; working with UNHCR and the international humanitarian community to support emergency aid infrastructure; halting any and all deportations of Afghan nationals in accordance with UNHCR recommendations; designating Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status, and increasing US asylum processing.”
The full text of the letter follows:
August 30, 2021
President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
As 219 faith leaders and 88 faith organizations and faith groups across traditions dedicated to upholding the human rights, humanitarian protection, and the rights of refugees, asylees, asylum seekers, stateless people, and all others who have been forcibly displaced, we write to express our support for a robust humanitarian response from the United States and our commitment to welcome Afghans in need of refuge and to implore your administration to expand opportunities for Afghans to seek refuge in the United States.
After months of warnings to evacuate and protect Afghan lives during U.S. withdrawal, faith leaders, veterans, advocates, and experts called for a timely, efficient, and secure Afghan evacuation. Tens of thousands of our Afghan allies are in imminent danger and face retaliation and death by the Taliban. On August 15th, Taliban forces took control of Kabul, seeding panic throughout the city and country. We are met with unending accounts of the desperation of Afghans seeking to flee: crowds overflowing the airfield, resulting in avoidable and tragic deaths; Afghans who worked alongside US forces scrambling to delete their digital history, and seeking resources for disguising their biometric data for fear of being discovered and targeted by the Taliban; women have already disappeared from the streets of Kabul, their safety and
freedoms slipping away.
On August 16th, you addressed the public regarding the withdrawal, stating that you “won’t shrink from [your] share of the responsibility” for how the US engaged in Afghanistan and that “part of the answer is some of the Afghans did not want to leave earlier–still hopeful for their country.” Taking responsibility means ensuring that there continue to be robust protections for vulnerable populations in Afghanistan–including women, girls, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, and religious and minority groups–while providing clear pathways to protection for all Afghans seeking refuge from violence. Such pathways include, but are not limited to: ensuring safe pathways out of Afghanistan and evacuating Afghan allies to US territories (e.g., Guam) for processing (until all 18,000 SIV applicants and their loved ones have been evacuated); expanding US refugee resettlement numbers and capacity; working with UNHCR and the international humanitarian community to support emergency aid infrastructure; halting any and all deportations of Afghan nationals in accordance with UNHCR recommendations; designating Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status, and increasing US asylum processing.
If “human rights must be at the center of our foreign policy, not the periphery”, as you stated in the same address to the American people and to the world, the United States must stand behind its promises. Leaving behind Afghans could be a death sentence for many. It is morally reprehensible and an abandonment of our faith values. We cannot let this happen.
We are called by our sacred texts to love our neighbor, accompany the vulnerable, and welcome the sojourner. Our places of worship have historically played key roles in assisting refugees for rapid and effective integration into U.S. communities. Our places of worship and faith communities stand ready to welcome all Afghans in need of refuge.
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