Afghan Students Request Aditya Thackeray for Visa
In wake of the crisis in Afghanistan, a delegation of students from Afghanistan met Maharashtra Tourism and Protocol Minister Aaditya Thackeray to seek help for visa extension.
Aaditya Thackeray is Maharashtra’s Tourism and Protocol Minister. In wake of the crisis in Afghanistan, students from Afghanistan studying in universities at Mumbai and Pune went to meet Thackeray. The students requested Thackeray to extend their visas and not send them back to Afghanistan. Thackeray said that as long as they are in Maharashtra they are safe and the Maharashtra government will ensure no harm comes to them. He assured the students that he would talk about this matter with the Central Government. On 14 August 2021, The USA Government had requested countries like Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to take Afghan refugees. These countries have accepted a few refugees. There is a deal between the United States of America and Qatar to host 8,000 Afghans, but the official announcement is yet to be made. The UK has accepted a total of 20,000 Afghan refugees. Experts estimate that 50,000 to 80,00 Afghans will leave the country in the coming days. The United States of America had also requested Bangladesh to give shelter to fleeing Afghan nationals.
However, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said, “We have rejected the USA’s request. Though the US is a friendly nation, Bangladesh is already facing problems by providing refuge to people of the Rohingya Community who are running from Myanmar and coming to Bangladesh. This is why they can not give refuge to Afghani refugees. There are 1.1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Don't put us into further trouble.” The Indian government on 17 August announced that it will issue an emergency e-visa to Afghan nationals who want to come to India. All Afghans, irrespective of their religion, can apply for the ‘e-Emergency X-Misc Visa’ online and the applications will be processed in New Delhi. However, in the recent weeks, only a few refugees have arrived from Afghanistan, mostly members of the government or those having prior visas given by India.
