Lessons for India from America’s Afghan evacuee crisis

REHMANULLAH LAKANWAL is a detritus of America's 'forever' war in Afghanistan. He was a member of a highly trained Afghan military unit that worked closely with the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) kinetic operations during the US' futile two-decade attempt to stabilise the Afghan Republic.Lakanwal, along with his wife and children, was evacuated from Afghanistan to the US immediately after the collapse of the Afghan Republic in August 2021. They were settled in Washington state and given asylum last year. Lakanwal drove across the US and, on November 26, shot two members of the US National Guard in the US capital. One of them died and the other was seriously injured.Lakanwal was shot and is recovering in a Washington DC hospital. He has been charged with murder, among other crimes. Investigations are underway into Lakanwal's motivations, but a US official has disclosed that he was 'radicalised' in the US.In August 2021, as the Afghan Republic collapsed and the Taliban re-established their rule over the country, most Afghans who had collaborated with the Americans during the two decades of their occupation of the country were taken to the US. This was because there was a real danger that the Taliban would kill them and their families. It is estimated that around 1,90,000 of these Afghans have been settled in the US by now. On Trump's orders, their cases will now be reopened.The evacuation of the Afghans was not unique. The Americans did the same in Vietnam. Thousands of Vietnamese who had worked with US forces against the Vietcong were facilitated to reach the US after it lost the war. The motivation to do so was the same as in Afghanistan in August 2021.Those who had collaborated with the Americans could not be abandoned. The Americans felt a moral need to take them to safety. Indeed, after the Vietnam war, as after the Afghan war, the US Congress passed legislation to ensure that immigration processes would be established to accept locals who had been vital to the US war effort.In addition to accepting such persons, the US government as well as NGOs undertook programmes to help their integration into US society. These processes are never easy. The immigrants have to show a great deal of adaptability.By all accounts, the Vietnamese did so, but the Afghans may find that more difficult. This would be particularly so with the Pashtuns, who still have rigid social views on gender. On their part, the local communities concerned have to show compassion, a feeling which is always in short supply when the economic situation becomes difficult.The Lakanwal case has given just the kind of ammunition that Trump would have liked to reinforce his case and rhetoric against immigration. It has also given him an opportunity to disparage his predecessor for the disastrous confusion and administrative failures that occurred during the evacuation of the US forces and the Afghans associated with them after the Taliban captured Kabul on August 15, 2021. He has also alleged that the US accepted Afghans without vetting them. This has been denied by the Biden people.Trump is loudly claiming that a smooth evacuation of US forces would have occurred had he been President. This may or may not have been the case; the Vietnam evacuation was anything but orderly. An example of a smooth evacuation of forces after a defeat was seen in the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in February 1989.After Lakanwal shot the two national guardsmen, Trump announced the suspension of visas for all Afghan nationals. He also stated that the processing of Afghans' asylum applications will be halted. Thereafter, he used the case to halt visas for 19 other countries — 11 from Africa and Iran, Laos, Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Cuba, Venezuela, Yemen and Afghanistan. There are reports that about a dozen countries may be added to this list.There is little doubt that stopping the entry of illegal migrants and sending back many to their home countries is one of the Trump administration's basic policies. It is attractive to Trump's base and an essential element of making America safe again.Ironically, Trump's response to the Lakanwal case holds a lesson for India. It shows that Trump is not bothered about those who helped America in the war. Nor has he shown the patience to wait for a report on Lakanwal's mental condition before taking drastic action to stop visas for nationals from many countries.Many Indians who may still be tempted to go illegally to the US should take note that Trump is willing to go to any length on the immigration issue. What is needed is that the Central and state governments make strenuous efforts to convey the danger of illegal migration to the young and their families, especially in the vulnerable Indian states.It is also essential that the Central and state governments should take purposeful action against human trafficking. It is simply not enough for External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to acknowledge the harm that human trafficking may cause to the country.He focussed on the issue while releasing a magazine on December 3. He said: "So, if you look at trafficking per se, all the associated crimes, and often it leads people with agendas of various kinds, political agendas, separatist agendas, they all join up to the illegal mobility side of it." The question is whether the government is doing enough to stop trafficking. The answer has to be in the negative.The government should also enter into more intensive discussions with the West on mobility issues. These should extend to groups such as farmers and labour. There are precedents for orderly labour movement to the Gulf countries. Admittedly, this has not been without problems, but it can be a template for the EU too.Thus, the Lakanwal case has implications that go far beyond Trump's actions so far; it would be prudent for the Indian authorities to take note of its various dimensions and take purposeful action to secure Indians’ interests.

Lessons for India from America’s Afghan evacuee crisis

India must recognise the dangers of illegal migration before more lives are put at risk.

Vivek Katju

Lessons for India from America’s Afghan evacuee crisis

India must recognise the dangers of illegal migration before more lives are put at risk.

Vivek Katju

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