United States President Joe Biden has signed the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2024, setting the refugee admissions target at 125,000 for this upcoming fiscal year.
In a statement issued on Friday, he stated, “The world is facing an unprecedented global displacement crisis in which record numbers of people have been forced to flee war, persecution, and instability.”
“The United States has worked to rebuild, streamline, and expand the US Refugee Admissions Program. In 2023, the Department of State, in coordination with the US Department of Health and Human Services, launched the Welcome Corps, an innovative program that empowers everyday Americans to welcome refugees arriving through the US Refugee Admissions Program, as well as the Welcome Corps on Campus, a targeted higher education sponsorship initiative that enables US colleges and universities to play a leading role in resettling refugee students,” the statement read.
“As part of today’s determination by President Biden, the United States has exponentially increased our resettlement efforts for individuals from Latin America and the Caribbean to provide protection pathways in our region. The administration also remains focused on expanding the resettlement of key populations of concern, including our Afghan allies; Rohingya refugees; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) individuals; human rights defenders; and individuals persecuted for their religious beliefs,” it added.
On the other hand, Pakistan has decided to send back all the illegal Afghan refugees in a major policy decision, which is seen in the context of ongoing tensions between the two countries.
Official sources said that the caretaker federal cabinet, through a circulation summary, approved the decision to repatriate as many as 1.1 million Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan illegally.
However, there has been no official confirmation yet from the interim government.
The sources added that as many as 400,000 Afghans have entered Pakistan illegally since the return of the Afghan Taliban to Afghanistan in August 2021, adding that there have been another 700,000 Afghans identified who have been living in the country illegally.