Americans, Other Foreign Nationals in Afghanistan Will Not Be Charged for Evacuation Flights, State Department Says

The U.S. State Department on Thursday clarified that they would not charge Americans and other foreign nationals for evacuation flights out of Afghanistan.

The State Department's statement came following reports that the department charged evacuees for the cost of their flight, The Hill reported.

"In these unique circumstances, we have no intention of seeking any reimbursement from those fleeing Afghanistan," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said.

Americans, Foreign Nationals in Afghanistan Asked to Pay for Evacuation Flights

Earlier reports said that Americans and other foreign nationals were asked to pay for the flights out of Afghanistan amid the unrest that continues to occur in the country.

A report published on Thursday noted that an unidentified source said that staff from the State Department asked American passengers to pay up to $2,000 for the flights, while foreign nationals were asked to pay larger amounts.

However, a different spokesperson from the department, which was not named, told Politico that the U.S. law requires that evacuation assistance to "private U.S. citizens or third-country nationals be provided on a reimbursable basis."

According to The Daily Wire, a security alert from the State Department issued last Saturday said repatriation flights are not free. The security alert further noted that passengers would be required to sign a "promissory loan agreement and may not be eligible to renew their U.S. passports until the loan is repaid."

Republican Representative Claudia Tenney quickly criticized the Biden administration for the said paid repatriation flights. In a tweet, the congresswoman noted that Americans should not be asked to pay for their "ride to safety."

Tenney ended her statement by saying that she's now drafting legislation to prevent the government from charging the Americans.

Evacuation Status in Afghanistan

The evacuation of Americans and other foreign nationals in Afghanistan was placed under chaos amid the Talibans' takeover of the country, but there were developments.

Since Saturday, the Biden administration evacuated at least 7,000 people from Afghanistan, including 2,000 Americans. On Thursday, Price noted that about 6,000 people were processed for evacuation at Kabul's international airport.

The U.S. Department of Defense said they hope to scale up their evacuation between 5,000 and 9,000 people per day. Its plan of upscaling the number of people to evacuate comes as the department urged the Americans who wish to flee the country to go to the Kabul airport.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said a faster evacuation would be possible if they could get out at least 7,000 individuals per day. Biden wanted to get all the Americans out of Afghanistan by August 31, the deadline he set for U.S. troops to fully withdraw from Afghanistan.

However, the president noted that he would make sure that the U.S. troops would be available for every American, even if the deadline is already over.

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Written By: Joshua Summers

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