US May Send Some Afghan Evacuees Who Fail Vetting Back Home, Reports Say

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is weighing sending some Afghan evacuees at a military base in Kosovo back home if they fail the vetting process to get into America, CNN reported on Thursday, citing US officials.

Camp Bondsteel in eastern Kosovo currently hosts some 200 evacuees, taking in those who require more extensive vetting, a CNN source said, adding that the Kosovo authorities agreed to house the evacuees for up to a year.

Yet some American officials are concerned that if evacuees are not cleared to enter the US, they could end up waiting in the facility indefinitely. Thus, there is always an option to return those who do not pass the US security clearance process back to Afghanistan, according to the report.

"That can be a more time-consuming process than... just ruling out someone based on fingerprints or facial photographs... That's the kind of thing where the sort of longer process that's happening at Bondsteel can be useful", one official said.

On 15 August, the Taliban* entered Kabul, prompting the US-supported civilian government to back down. Ashraf Ghani resigned as president and fled the country. Many countries have since evacuated their citizens and diplomatic personnel from Afghanistan due to the precarious security situation.

According to the US, approximately 70,000 Afghans have arrived in the country as part of Operation Allies Welcome.

*The Taliban is under UN sanctions over terrorist activities.