oe Biden has yet to understand his limitations. He has no jurisdiction outside of the U.S. He cannot make rules, laws, or decisions on behalf of any other country, and he is not the world’s omnipotent leader. He has a difficult enough time running his own country to try calling the shots somewhere else. But Biden is oblivious to all of this, and Turkish officials just harshly called him out on it.
Joe Biden announced that the U.S. government will step up its game by assisting at-risk Afghans safely flee their country, which is lots and lots of people. Since the Taliban aren’t in the habit of taking prisoners they’re pretty much all at risk.
Biden, via the State Department, has generously offered to send the refugees to other countries where they’ll fit in better, the main recipient being Turkey. But he forgot to check with Turkey first to see if this was okay and government officials there have let him know in no uncertain terms, it most definitely is not.
The Turks called the U.S. “irresponsible,” which we kinda are these days. A spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Tanju Bilgic, said Turkey is already at its capacity due to the last migration crisis. He said the U.S. offered Turkey as a safe haven “without consultation.”
“The U.S. may directly transport these people by plane. Turkey will not take over the international responsibilities of third countries,” Bilgic added. He said Biden’s hasty announcement would create a tsunami of refugees and that Turkey will not allow another country to disregard their laws and protocols no matter how strong and powerful they think they might be.
During Syria’s bloody civil war Turkey was bombarded with 3.7 million fleeing Syrian immigrants seeking refuge, who with great reluctance, they accepted. These days fleeing Afghans are showing up in record numbers, coming in via the Iran/Turkish border, and the numbers have dramatically risen now that the U.S. is respectfully hauling its ass out of Afghanistan.
The State Department said it’s loosening refugee restrictions to allow more Afghans to qualify for help and they’re working to speed up the process. Where they were previously focused, with good concern, on Afghan interpreters who had assisted the U.S. military, they’ve stretched the playing field.
Refugee status will be granted to any current or former employee of any U.S.-based media outlet of any type, small or large. Anyone who worked with a U.S.-based aid group in any capacity, such as the Red Cross, meets the new criteria. Any Afghan who was associated with any group or organization funded by the U.S. can now apply for bonafide refugee status.
Here’s where this gets real. When residing in a third-world country, the adjudication process for getting into the U.S. can take 12-14 months under normal circumstances, which this situation is anything but. So Biden can get these people out of Afghanistan, but he has no authority to bring them here just yet. He wants to but he can’t.
The State Department wants Turkey to babysit these homeless folks until they can figure out how to bring them here sooner, which isn’t going to happen. They said they going to eventually offer the refugees their choice of remaining in Turkey or starting a new life in the U.S. However, they left out one small detail that really has the Turk’s turbans unraveling. The U.S. won’t be kicking in a dime. It’s all on them.
The refugees are going to need to find their own rides and then pray to Allah that the Turkish government will be so kind as to house and feed them during their most difficult of times. And need we say again, neither Joe Biden nor the State Department asked or even clued Turkey in. How rude.
The Biden administration is fully aware that after uprooting once, the majority of the refugees are not going to want to go through the hassle again. They would just as soon remain a financial burden to Turkey.
This is Bidens’ vastly under thought out plan. But it takes two to tango and the Turks aren’t feeling the rhythm of the beat. They’re too busy trying to figure out what to do with all the homeless and hungry Afghans arriving at their border to worry about dancing. But, if Biden persists in sending more of them Turkey’s way, he needs to remember one thing. The Turks have a few strong friends in low places who would welcome the chance to dance with the U.S.