State Department regulations do not prioritize religious minorities.
Fearing religious violence by the Taliban, humanitarian aid groups in Afghanistan have been scrambling to get Afghan Christians out of the country in the U.S. evacuation. But their efforts have reportedly been thwarted by the U.S. State Department. Even though they have the proper paperwork, Christians are being turned away according to the Catholic News Agency.
For the past ten days, Christians in Afghanistan have tried to board flights leaving the country. “Among a group that began with more than 100 people are 22 leaders in the Afghan church whom the Taliban have identified and in some cases targeted with its August 15 takeover of the city,” one report said. They haven’t been able to leave because “U.S. forces have repeatedly turned away Afghan Christians at airport entrances, despite the group’s following instructions from the State Department and U.S. military.”
Among the many humanitarian and Christian groups working to rescue at-risk and Christian Afghans is Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse. Aid organizations were told last Wednesday that evacuation flights for civilians would end Friday, August 27, so that the U.S. military could complete the removal of its own forces and equipment in the days remaining before the August 31 deadline.
The State Department’s P-2 (Priority 2) designation for Afghan nationals leaving the country does not prioritize religious minorities.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For officials of the State Department to be attentive to the plight of those experiencing religious persecution.
- For rescue efforts that remain ongoing in Afghanistan to help at-risk Afghans, including Afghan Christians, to evacuate.
- For U.S. military personnel as they work to get as many people out as possible in the shortest amount of time.
- For the Afghan people who will suffer under the Taliban and other terrorist groups once the U.S. and other foreign presence is gone.
Sources: Just The News, World News, CBN, Catholic News Agency
