(CNN) The State Department announced Monday that it will expand access to the US refugee program for certain Afghans amid fears of reprisal by the Taliban as the US military withdrawal nears completion. The new designation creates a pathway to the US for Afghans who do not qualify for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, which Congress created to allow Afghans and Iraqis targeted because of their work for the United States to relocate to safety in the US. However, the thousands of Afghans now eligible for the refugee program will be responsible for getting themselves out of Afghanistan, a senior State Department official told reporters Monday, and the processing can take more than a year. The State Department said that Afghans who did not meet the minimum "time in service" eligibility requirement for the SIV program but "work or worked as employees of contractors, locally-employed staff, interpreters/translators" for the US government, US or NATO forces, those "who work or worked for a U.S. government-funded program or project in Afghanistan supported through a U.S. government grant or cooperative agreement," and those "who are or were employed in Afghanistan by a U.S.-based media organization or non-governmental organization" as well as their eligible family members will be given Priority 2 designation, making them eligible for the refugee program. According to the department, Priority 2 designation applies to "groups of special concern designated by the Department of State as having access to the program by virtue of their circumstances and apparent need for resettlement."

Source: CNN August 02, 2021 10:54 UTC