About 12,000 Afghan refugees are waiting for their trip to the United States at Ramstein Air Base, a sprawling facility in southwest Germany that is one of four U.S. military bases in Europe offering temporary refuge for people who fled Afghanistan because they faced reprisals from the new Taliban rulers.
About 5,000 additional Afghans are about 80 miles west of Frankfurt at Rhine Ordnance Barracks, while Sigonella Naval Air Station in Italy is processing another 2,500. Meanwhile, the joint Spanish/U.S. naval base in Rota is caring for about 1,800 Afghans.
Officials with U.S. European Command have processed 155 flights from Afghanistan since the mission began Aug. 20, Air Force Gen. Tod D. Wolters, NATO’s Supreme Allied commander, told Pentagon reporters on Thursday.
“We’ve come a long way in the last 10 days,” Gen. Wolters said. “It’s intense and we anticipate more intensity in the future. The mission must go on.”
The bases are processing about 250 refugees an hour, up from about 60 at the beginning of the evacuation, he said.
“We’ve refined this process over the course of the last 10 days,” Gen. Wolters said. “It’s come a long way.”
Military officials are under something of a time crunch. Although the operation is on an American military base, they have to abide by local regulations. The refugees have to be on their way within 10 days of their arrival from Afghanistan, officials said.
Upon their arrival, each refugee is immediately checked against U.S. military databases, along with those used by the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection through biometric and biographic systems, officials said.
“We want to make sure we conduct the screening and ensure we’ve got results on the individual before we put them into their sleeping quarters,” Gen. Wolters said.
Anyone who is flagged is taken out of the line and put into isolation for further screening. Almost 60 refugees are undergoing more security scrutiny, but Gen. Wolters said he anticipates they will be cleared to head to the United States.
Because of the 10-day deadline at the European bases, the Afghans won’t be formally tested for COVID-19 until they reach the U.S. But commanders at the bases have the authority to have someone tested if they seem symptomatic, Gen. Wolters said.
About 16,000 Afghan refugees have been sent to the U.S. after going through the processing at one of the intermediate European stops. Most of them had been at Ramstein, officials said.
“We’re at a point right now where we’re processing in about the same number that we’re processing out,” Gen. Wolters said.