During the disastrous and chaotic U.S. withdrawel from Afghanistan, thousands of unvetted Afghans were rushed into U.S. military planes and flown out of the country. Despite promises from the White House all refugees coming into the U.S. would be fully vetted, many men arrived at military bases with child brides. The situation prompted the State Department to ask for emergency guidance on how to handle the situation. While pedophilia is culturally accepted in Afghanistan, is illegal in the U.S.
"U.S. officials are looking into reports that in the frantic evacuation of desperate Afghans from Kabul, older men were admitted together with young girls they claimed as 'brides' or otherwise sexually abused," the Associated Press reported. "U.S. officials at intake centers in the United Arab Emirates and in Wisconsin have identified numerous incidents in which Afghan girls have been presented to authorities as the 'wives' of much older men. While child marriage is not uncommon in Afghanistan, the U.S. has strict policies against human trafficking that include prosecutions for offenders and sanctions for countries that don’t crack down on it."
"One internal document seen by The Associated Press says the State Department has sought 'urgent guidance' from other agencies after purported child brides were brought to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. Another document, described to the AP by officials familiar with it, says Afghan girls at a transit site in Abu Dhabi have alleged they have been raped by older men they were forced to marry in order to escape Afghanistan," the report continues.
A number of Senators sent an inquiry directly to President Biden about what kind of guidance has been given to handle child bride cases. They're being stonewalled.
"We write regarding credible reports that your administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan facilitated the transport and trafficking of child brides and other Afghan girls subject to sexual abuse by Afghan men. We are deeply concerned that your withdrawal has imported an acute human rights crisis to our country, in part because you and your administration appear to have been wholly unprepared for the scope and nature of the operation," Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, Tom Cotton and Kevin Cramer wrote in a letter to President Biden last week. "These reports about trafficking and the horrific treatment of Afghan girls are in addition to reports that an Afghan male convicted of rape who had previously been deported was brought back during the evacuation.Such failures are why a group of Senators are demanding answers about what steps are being taken to vet individuals evacuated from Afghanistan."
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"Child marriage, sexual abuse, and domestic abuse are widespread in Afghanistan but illegal in the United States, but your administration has had no policy for dealing with these issues: the State Department requested 'urgent guidance' but as late as August 27 had not received it. In any case the United States has a moral obligation to ensure that our foreign policy is not complicit in human trafficking, sexual slavery, and abuse. But just as with the crisis at the southern border, where your policies continue to abet documented instances of human trafficking and sexual abuse, your chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan appears to have facilitated horrific abuses," the letter continues. "It is imperative that the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigate whether and to what extent these reported incidents of child trafficking from Afghanistan are occurring and to provide a full public accounting of the United States’ role in evacuating offenders.
The White House has been asked to respond by Thursday, September 30.
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