US: Homeland Security seeks steerage to stop trafficking of Afghan youngster brides

Two weeks after the United States evacuated 124,000 folks from Afghanistan, a leaked inside doc has revealed that a number of outdated Afghan refugees have been getting into the nation with brides as younger as 12 years outdated, reported Yahoo News.
The doc, dated September 5, was produced by the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security. Yahoo News reported that the trafficking of kid bridges into the United States has been a significant problem for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) since Kabul fell into the arms of the Taliban. CBP has sought ‘urgent guidance’ from different US authorities Departments in tackling the disaster.
“U.S. officials at intake centres in the United Arab Emirates and in Wisconsin have found many incidents in which Afghan girls have been presented to authorities as the wives of much older men…Forced or coerced ‘marriages’ are indicative of the level of desperation Afghan families are willing to consider helping loved ones escape the Taliban and qualify for evacuation to Western countries,” the leaked doc emphasised.
US official, conversant in the leaked doc, sheds gentle on the grim state of affairs
As per a US authorities official, the first concern has been the vetting course of to determine potential instances of kid marriages. “The concern is, we’re seeing a lot of family units with very young girls. These girls are brought into the U.S. as wives. It’s not a small number…The reality is, overseas the vetting process sucks — there’s minimal vetting. So now we have a 60-year-old guy with a 12-year-old girl saying, ‘That’s my wife’,” the official conceded.
He identified that marriages will not be ‘legitimate’ within the eyes of the federal government. The official knowledgeable the administration is clueless about whether or not the minor ladies have been delivered to the States as a part of a rescue mission or nefarious intent. Prior to the Taliban rule, the authorized age of marriage for women below the US-backed authorities in Afghanistan was 16 years. However, in rural areas, incidents of kid marriages beneath the authorized age of 16 have been frequent.
White House, Homeland Security defends evacuation and vetting course of
According to a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, the US authorities supposedly had a ‘sturdy and multi-layered screening and vetting course of for evacuation of weak Afghans. “We take allegations of forced marriage seriously. We are coordinating across the U.S. government and with domestic and international partners to detect potential cases of forced marriage or other forms of abuse, including human trafficking, among vulnerable Afghans at relocation sites and to protect any victims identified,” the spokesperson alleged.
Although the White House refused to discuss the allegations of kid exploitation and trafficking, an official spokesperson was fast to defend the vetting course of.“Intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism professionals are conducting screening and security vetting for all SIV applicants and other vulnerable Afghans. This includes reviews of both biographic and biometric data before they are admitted into the United States.”
At this level, it stays unclear as to what number of Afghan youngsters have been subjected to rape and marriages. Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, has blamed the hasty evacuation course of and lack of correct screening for aggravating the state of affairs of trafficking of minor Afghan ladies.
Joe Biden admin below the scanner over human trafficking issues
Earlier, the Associated Press had reported that there have been quite a few incidents the place Afghan ladies have been introduced to authorities in US because the “child brides” of outdated Afghan males. According to 1 different inside doc seen by the AP, Afghan ladies at a transit website in Abu Dhabi had claimed that they have been pressured to marry older males to flee Afghanistan who in flip raped them.
“Intake staff at Fort McCoy reported multiple cases of minor females who presented as ‘married’ to adult Afghan men, as well as polygamous families. Department of State has requested urgent guidance,” stated the doc that was seen by AP. Accusing the Joe Biden administration of importing an “acute human rights crisis” into the USA, Senator Ted Cruz stated, “There have been multiple cases of child brides and polygamous families from Afghanistan arriving at military bases here in America as part of their botched evacuation.”