Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week we are signing a letter to President Joe Biden urging that he act to protect Afghan Refugees coming from vulnerable populations, including women and girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) Afghans. We urge the Administration  to ensure the well-being of these populations.

Same-sex activity was already criminalized before the Taliban took control, but the new regime’s mandate to rule with Sharia law makes the fate of LGBTQI Afghans even more precarious, subjecting them to the very real possibility of a death sentence. There are already alarming reports from LGBTQI Afghans about their fear of living under Taliban rule, with many saying that they have gone into hiding in fear for their lives. A Taliban judge recently decreed: “For homosexuals, there can only be two punishments: either stoning, or he must stand behind a wall that will fall down on him.” An exodus of LGBTQI refugees has commenced and will likely expand.

While we are heartened by President Biden’s pledge to continue to support refugee evacuation and resettlement in the coming weeks. The United States bears a special responsibility not to abandon those we have encouraged along the path to democracy and human rights, and to act expeditiously to ensure their safety. We are urging the Biden Administration to adopt a ten-point plan to protect the security of LGBTQI Afghan refugees:

1. Prioritize the evacuation and resettlement of vulnerable refugee populations and ensure that any transitory stay in a third country is indeed temporary by expediting refugee processing.
2. Provide and effectively implement explicit “Priority 2” (P-2) access to the U.S. refugee program for the highly vulnerable populations. Waive any application fees. Initiate a new program of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans in the United States.
3. Ensure that existing lists that have been collected by various governments of at-risk Afghans are carefully safeguarded so that they do not fall into Taliban or third-country hands. Use the lists as a basis for expedited P1 or P2 refugee processing or humanitarian parole for those who seek protection abroad.
4. Lift or expand the FY 2022 refugee cap of 125,000 refugees accepted into the United States.
5. Work with our allies to coordinate refugee protection for Afghans, open avenues to other countries for migration and asylum, and provide assistance to neighboring countries that have acted as points of first entry for thousands of refugees as well as countries where Afghan refugees will be processed.
6. Provide funding to support the temporary housing, livelihoods, and security of refugees in third countries while they are being processed for refugee resettlement in the United States or elsewhere.
7. Recognize NGOs that have been reliable partners in identifying and recommending Afghans to the State Department for protection and instruct U.S. embassies to process refugee applications on site when referred by these designated partners.
8. Recognize for the purposes of refugee relocation, humanitarian parole, or any other entry into the United States any same-sex Afghan partner as a spouse. Take an equally expansive view of the definition of family for LGBTQI relocation given the lack of legal recognition for LGBTQI partnerships in the region.
9. Expand LGBTQI-sensitive resettlement programs in the United States and engage with NGOs and local communities to expand the U.S. capacity to absorb larger numbers of LGBTQI Afghan refugees in supportive and inclusive environments, including through new refugee sponsorship programs.
10. Speak out forcefully against human rights abuses by the new Taliban regime and any increased targeting of vulnerable communities and use existing mechanisms to sanction and hold accountable perpetrators of human rights abuse. Negotiate explicit human rights monitoring access, with a particular focus on vulnerable communities particularly LGBTQI Afghans, when the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan is renewed by the Security Council later this month.

The international community must act in concert to protect vulnerable populations now placed at risk. We urge that the United States increase and prioritize its immediate, medium-term and long-term efforts on behalf of the LGBTQI community and other vulnerable populations in Afghanistan using these ten protection priorities.

Options to Sign:

1. Sign a letter at the Action Table Sunday morning.
2. Download a PDF copy of the letter to sign and mail.
3. Click on this link to sign a petition on line.

If you need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators, www.house.gov and www.senate.gov .