US may abandon 6,000 Afghan visa applicants

KABUL (Pajhwok): The US Senate Appropriations Committee has advanced a bill envisaging 4,000 additional visas for Afghan interpreters.

Earlier in the month, the Senate had failed to jack up the number of visas as an amendment to the defense policy bill, according to the Washington Examiner.

Under the bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, the programme to bring Afghan translators to the US was extended for another year.

Known as Special Immigrant Visa programme, the initiative allows Afghan translatorsto come to the US. Many of them are facing threats for supporting Americans.

The State Department has about 4,000 visas left to issue, with 10,000 applications still pending. It means 6,000 Afghans may be abandoned.

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