SIV holders not included in US suspension of refugee program

The US State Department suspended its refugee program Tuesday night, halting all refugee flights into the United States, under direction of President Donald Trump’s executive order, but the suspension does not apply to Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders.

The US State Department said in a memo to resettlement partners that the flights of refugees scheduled to travel to the United States have been cancelled, CNN reported.

Approximately 10,000 refugees had travel booked, which is now canceled. They include citizens of Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela, Syria and Burma.

There are more than 1,000 Afghan refugees in Doha, CNN cited a US government official as saying, and several thousand, up to as many as 10,000, in Pakistan. But there are other Afghan refugees in “many, many countries around the world … whose cases will now just be stopped,” the official said.

These include those who are not SIV holders, according to the official.

While the US State Department has made it clear that the suspension does not apply to SIV holders, Trump’s order has ignited fears that he could halt this program as well, according to Kim Staffieri, executive director of the Association of Wartime Allies, a group that helps Afghans and Iraqis resettle in the United States.