Where do the people who manage to flee Afghanistan go?

(CNN Spanish) – The images shocked the world. Thousands of people thronged the Kabul airport, desperate to flee Afghanistan. Some even clung to planes moving over the runway.

One image that went viral showed the inside of a packed military cargo plane, transporting about 640 Afghans from Kabul to Qatar on Sunday.

Where do they go if they manage to escape the Taliban regime?

The answer is complicated. To begin with, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) issued a no-return notice for Afghanistan on Monday. That is, he called for “a ban on the forced returns of Afghan citizens, including asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected.”

“States have a legal and moral responsibility to allow those fleeing Afghanistan to seek safety and not forcibly return refugees,” UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said at a press conference.

About 80% of the nearly a quarter of a million Afghans who were forced to flee since the end of May 2021 are women and children, according to UNHCR data.

The organization highlights that Afghans have been experiencing a displacement crisis for four decades. Meanwhile, more than 550,000 Afghans have been internally displaced since early 2021. Meanwhile, a total of 72,375 Afghan refugees are housed in Afghanistan and some 2,215,445 refugees are in Iran and Pakistan, according to UNHCR.

Caroline Van Buren, UNHCR’s representative in Afghanistan, told CNN’s Robyn Curnow on Sunday that between 20,000 and 30,000 people were leaving the country weekly.

United States and Afghan refugees

According to reported CNNAs the situation in Afghanistan began to deteriorate more rapidly in recent days, the Department of Homeland Security began working on speeding up processes for applicants for special Afghan immigrant visas.

According to Garry Reid, who leads the Pentagon’s Special Immigrant Visa effort, the Department of Defense was asked to assist the State Department with the Special Immigrant Visa program “to expedite and assist in the process due to time delays,” inherent in the application process.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration asked federal employees of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to volunteer to support the relocation of Afghans who helped the United States, according to a notification sent to part of the workforce this Monday and known to CNN.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department said it would transfer up to 30,000 applicants for special visas for Afghan immigrants to the US, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby confirmed to CNN. In that sense, he said that Fort Bliss, in Texas, and Fort McCoy, in Wisconsin, have the capacity to house these applicants.

Refugees to India

The Indian embassy will continue its electronic emergency visa operations for Afghan nationals who are interested in leaving the country for India, CNN reported.

Turkey’s concern

Meanwhile, Turkey said it will work with Pakistan to help stabilize Afghanistan. In this way, it aims to prevent a new wave of Afghan migrants.

According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country “is facing a wave of Afghan migrants via Iran.”

Pakistan’s claim

Faced with the Afghan refugee crisis, Pakistan calls for an international plan. Moeed Yusuf, the Pakistani Prime Minister’s National Security Advisor, told a news conference that there must be an “international conversation” on crisis management.

“Who is going to put money for this … where are the displaced people going to go and who is going to take the initiative?” He asked.

With information from CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi, Vedika Sud, Swati Gupta, Ellie Kaufman and Michael Conte.