Dear Friends,

We hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend with family and friends. As you settle back into your normal weekly routine, we wanted to give you a quick update on where Operation Rescue currently stands. Despite numerous obstacles and delays, we haven’t stopped our daily efforts to find new solutions for getting hundreds of at-risk Afghans out of harm’s way.

The reality on the ground changes frequently--sometimes by the hour. As the new interim government in Afghanistan solidifies and airport operations in Kabul and Mazar-e Sharif gradually resume, the rules for authorizing evacuation flights have become murky. Additional passenger documentation is now required to access the airport, and the international community has been slow to issue approvals allowing Afghan refugees to arrive and be processed on their shores.
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We know you are as anxious as we are for a breakthrough. Time is of the essence. We hear from numerous Afghans daily who are actively fleeing for their lives and who are urgently pleading for evacuation options before it’s too late. The truth is, we wouldn’t still be in this fight unless we thought there was still a chance to achieve our mission. With each new challenge arise new opportunities, and until those opportunities are properly exhausted we will keep on striving to achieve what you have supported us to do. We owe this to the hundreds of Afghans that are counting on us as well as the generous supporters that have placed their faith in our efforts.​

Thanks again for your patience and support. We couldn’t do this without you.

The past 10 days or so have been a full-out sprint trying to help get Afghans at greatest risk out of the country. With the early withdrawal of US troops and the temporary shutdown of the Kabul airport, that sprint has now transitioned into a marathon.

While our initial goal was to have our priority evacuees out by August 31st, this timeline became impossible due to complex operational challenges related to the final days of US withdrawal. However, the importance of getting people out of the country remains a high (or even higher) priority now that the US is no longer in the country. As difficult as it is for us to say, there are people who are on our evacuation list who have already been executed and that is heartbreaking.

Our goal remains the same: to save as many at-risk Afghan lives as possible. We are prayerfully pursuing all credible options to achieve this mission and are steadily growing a team of volunteers to resource this effort. As we have repeated in recent days, we are unable to post many specifics about the ongoing operation due to the safety considerations of the evacuees and the sensitivity of the current environment on the ground.

However, here are some of the challenges that have delayed evacuation flights in recent days following the US withdrawal:

• Airport equipment and temporary closure of HKIA (Kabul International Airport)
• Ambiguity around airport process and procedures
• Multiple surrounding countries being unable/unwilling to receive evacuees
• Backlog at US refugee processing centers

We currently have two planes chartered and ready to go, and continue to work to get our people on them. If you would like to get involved here are some specific things that you can do:

• Reach out to your elected officials and ask for their assistance
• Help put us in contact with other organizations who are doing the same thing we are so that we can collaborate together

Thank you for your continued prayer and support. If you have any questions feel free to reach out.