CAMP ATTERBURY — Camp Atterbury officials released an official statement Wednesday, but could not confirm, that refugees from Afghanistan may be coming to the Johnson County military facility later this week.
Military locations around the United States will provide temporary housing and support for Afghan special immigrant visa applicants, their families and other at-risk individuals after their home country fell to the Taliban.
Earlier this week, Afghan refugees began arriving at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin for temporary housing and support, The Associated Press reported. The Secretary of Defense has also authorized Fort Lee in Virginia, Fort Bliss in Texas and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey to provide temporary housing and support for up to 50,000 at-risk Afghans, said Camp Atterbury spokesman Master Sgt. Jeff Lowry.
Additionally, the Defense Department, through U.S. Northern Command, has agreed to provide to the Department of State transportation and temporary housing, sustainment and support inside the United States for Afghan special immigrant visa applicants, their families and other at-risk individuals at suitable facilities, Lowry said.
“Military departments are continuing to identify potential bases to meet potential expanded need, and we will notify you accordingly if Camp Atterbury in Indiana is approved to support the Afghan evacuee mission,” Lowry said.
Since the Taliban seized the Afghan capital on Aug. 14, more than 82,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in one of the largest U.S. airlifts in history, according to wire reports. While the pace has picked up in recent days, it’s still a chaotic scramble as people seek to escape.
Afghans trying to reach the Kabul airport face a gauntlet of danger, and there are far more who want to leave than will be able to do so, according to the AP. Those who do make it out will face the many challenges of resettlement, either in the U.S. or somewhere else.
President Joe Biden set an Aug. 31 deadline to complete the U.S.-led evacuation.
President Donald Trump signed a peace deal with the Taliban in February 2020 as part of an effort to end what he called the “endless wars” in the Middle East, according to wire reports. He agreed to a May 1 deadline to have all troops out of the country.
Biden, who says he no longer wants to risk American lives in a civil war among Afghans, kept with the withdrawal plan but extended the deadline to Aug. 31.
