Over 500 journalists are stranded in Afghanistan, claims Congressman Michael McCaul
According to McCaul, just 50 employees of the US news agency were evacuated, thanks to efforts by US allies rather than the US government
NEW DELHI — The State Department abandoned more than 500 journalists and their families recruited by the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) in Afghanistan, according to Michael McCaul, a prominent Republican on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.
McCaul said in a statement on Tuesday said it was utterly disgusting that the US State Department claimed they evacuated its local workers while abandoning hundreds of USAGM journalists and their families.
Journalists left in lurch by Biden administration
The Congressman said the Biden Administration announced that some of these journalists would be recognized as locally employed staff, but they were not.
Only 50 staffers from the US media agency were evacuated, according to McCaul, owing to efforts by US allies rather than the US government.
The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is a global media agency with a networked structure that supervises five US-funded media stations, including Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.
Pleas from McCaul’s office to assist one of the journalists, his wife, and their young kid have been consistently disregarded, according to him.
For two weeks, McCaul stated, his office worked with one of these journalists to bring attention to his situation so that the journalist, his wife, and their kid might be saved, but their appeals were disregarded.
Lakhs of Afghans wishing eligible for expedited visas also stuck
President Joe Biden and the State Department were also urged by Republican Representative to find quick methods to transport these people to safety and away from the dangers.
Approximately 250,000 Afghans eligible for expedited US visas remained in the country in August, according to US media estimates, while American forces could only withdraw approximately 20,000 per day.
On August 30, the United States completed the withdrawal of its soldiers from Afghanistan, bringing an end to one of the country’s longest conflicts. Over 123,000 people were evacuated from Afghanistan by US and Coalition forces in just a few weeks, with little more than 6,000 of them being US citizens.
