In July, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Doug Ramsdell got a phone call from a former colleague. Afghan commando Noor Mohammad feared what Taliban forces surging through Afghanistan might do to his family of seven. “Uncle,” he told Ramsdell, “I need some help.”
That call sparked the growth of a nonprofit organization Operation 620. It’s named in recognition of the 620 endangered Afghans he and about 10 volunteers aim to save from Taliban hunter forces. Eight weeks ago, that number was higher. Despite around-the-clock efforts to ensure their safety, Ramsdell reports that more than 50 people from his manifest have “been disappeared,” likely killed in Taliban reprisals.
Operation 620 is one of a group of organizations, including Operation North Star, Task Force Argo, Save Our Allies, and Task Force Pineapple seeking to rescue 10,000 to 100,000 Afghan allies who remain in Afghanistan. They are fulfilling the U.S. government’s promise to support our allies “with the personal checking accounts of veterans,” explains one veteran with Operation North Star. Without millions of dollars, they cannot carry out their urgent mission.
For endangered Afghans, stakes are high. Veterans tell of door-to-door raids and extensive checkpoints as the Taliban methodically seek out our Afghan associates. Those who are found are tortured or executed. The veterans receive horrifying photographs and videos of Afghan military personnel and their family members, including children, murdered by the Taliban.
The Taliban’s physical stranglehold over Afghanistan is reinforced by requirements that Afghans wishing to leave the country obtain a passport. Assurances that previous government employees can safely apply for passports have been false. Seeking a passport was a death sentence for some former Afghan military personnel, likely due to Taliban intelligence-gathering and access to personnel lists and sophisticated biometric software that the U.S. left behind.
Visas also pose difficulty. About 30 of the 2,000 high-risk former military, intelligence, special forces, interpreters, policewomen, journalists, activists, and members of persecuted religious minorities on Operation North Star’s manifest have dual American citizenship. About 10% hold the special immigrant visa, Priority 1 or 2 visa, or green card required to enter the U.S. The remainder “are essentially stuck … with no way out,” one veteran tells me.
Operation 620’s manifest contains aircrew chiefs, medics, and teachers — men and women who “don’t align nicely with any one interest group,” Ramsdell said. To transport these Afghans safely to another country, he must continue outsmarting the Taliban. But Taliban forces are catching on to the rescue operations. Time is of the essence.
The strains on the veterans are real. Meeting Afghans’ needs is a 20-hour-per-day occupation for some veterans. One reports that some of Operation North Star’s 75 volunteers “quit or lost their jobs due to the effort.” But the volunteers’ selfless devotion will mean little without support from the government.
For Operation North Star, providing safe houses, food, water, and security costs $20 to $30 per person daily. When the group ran out of funding in October, they had to turn Afghans out of safe houses. Operation 620’s daily expenses are $12 per person. The group is already operating in the red.
Costs will increase as organizations charter buses ($375 per 28 people) and planes ($500-$1,500 per seat) to host countries, care for Afghans while they await visa processing, acquire transportation to the U.S., and defray the financial requirements of sponsoring families (roughly $35,000 yearly for a family of four) awaiting humanitarian parole adjudication.
One veteran urges Americans to “put pressure on their politicians and the Department of State.” But the critical need of Operation 620 and Operation North Star is financial donations. Winter is coming, and many allies remain trapped, desperately in need of help from their allies.
Some names have been changed to protect identities.
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85 ) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
