Via email The Honorable Antony J. Blinken United States Secretary of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 August 18, 2021 URGENT Re: Saving Afghanistan's future Dear Secretary Blinken: Scholars at Risk, together with the undersigned higher education institutions, associations, networks, and professionals, request your immediate action to save Afghanistan’s scholars, students, practitioners, civil society leaders and activists, especially women and ethnic and religious minorities. Scholars at Risk is an international network of over 500 other higher education institutions in 40 countries whose core mission is to protect threatened scholars and intellectuals, principally by arranging temporary positions at network-member institutions for those who are unable to work safely in their home countries. Over the last 20 years our network has assisted over 1500 threatened scholars, students and practitioners. We are racing to offer assistance to colleagues in Afghanistan who at this moment are desperately seeking ways out of the country. Many have already moved into hiding and may soon take the perilous step of looking for a way over land borders. They may not have worn a uniform or received a US government paycheck, but for the better part of twenty years they have fought alongside US interests for a new, rights-respecting, forward-looking, knowledge-based Afghanistan. Hundreds of them traveled to the United States to seek an education and returned to their homeland, dedicated to values of openness and tolerance. These are not the values of the Taliban, so their lives are now at risk. Timely US government action can still make an enormous difference, and maybe yet save Afghanistan’s future. We implore you to act on their behalf now. Specifically, we seek immediate action from USDOS and relevant USG departments and agencies to: • Continue evacuation flights for as long as possible so as to include scholars, students and civil society actors who have supported the forward-looking, pluralist vision of Afghanistan that the US mission embraced. Do not end flights until all are safely out. • Include SIV, P1 and P2 candidates among those evacuated by US forces and their agents for relocation, temporarily to third countries at least, ideally for transit to the US as early as possible. • Advise all US and ally embassies and consulates wherever they are located to receive and process SIV, P1, and P2 applications, as well as J and other appropriate visa applications, for Afghan nationals in their respective territory or for those still in Afghanistan, and facilitate entry to the US or a third country as rapidly as possible. • Create a priority processing pathway for those candidates who demonstrate an existing partner, host institution, job, or sponsor, including for families, that would facilitate their arrival and earliest adjustment. Many US institutions and individuals are ready to help; capture that opportunity by expediting the processing of individuals known to them and for whom they are ready to step forward. • As to scholars and researchers in particular, waive the intent-to-return and home residency requirements on US J visa applications for Afghan nationals for the foreseeable future. Barring full waiver, issue authoritative guidance to consular and border officials supporting a determination of satisfaction of the intent to return by showing a willingness to return in the absence of the Taliban, or a credible, durable and rebuttable demonstration that the individual would be able to return and live safely under the Taliban. • Establish a dedicated funding stream for scholars, students, and civil society actors from Afghanistan, including men and especially women and ethnic and religious minorities, to undertake study, fellowships, lectureships, researcher positions or temporary academic positions at US higher education institutions, similar to the programs created during the Iraq conflict but on a much larger scale reflective of the much larger threat posed by the military withdrawal and subsequent collapse of the Afghan national government. Some funds for such streams might be redirected from existing funds budgeted for Afghanistan programming, but which may not be possible to expend under the current conditions. Nevertheless, new funds will be required to meet the most urgent needs. We ask for a phone call with the appropriate officer at your earliest possible convenience to discuss the situation, the recommendations above and any possibilities for further action or support. The window in which to take these steps, save lives, and redeem some measure of the US investment in Afghanistan’s future is rapidly closing. Your urgent intervention is needed to mobilize the relevant departments and agencies. The eroding situation in Afghanistan poses a threat not only to the lives of our colleagues still in Afghanistan, but to the future of that country, and to the future security and honor of the United States. The US higher education community is ready to do its part, but we need your help. If we move quickly, we can go a long way towards mitigating the worst of the threats and demonstrate continuing commitment to the future of Afghanistan and its people. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your urgent reply. Your staff may reach me anytime at [email protected] or +1-917-710-1946. Sincerely, Robert Quinn Executive Director 2 [Signatory list attached, updated August 23, 2021, 3:45 PM EST] CC: Dean Thompson Acting Assistant Secretary Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs United States Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 Via email: [email protected] Senator Charles E. Schumer 322 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Via email: [email protected] Senator Kirsten Gillibrand 478 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Via email: [email protected] 3 Signatories to the urgent appeal for Afghanistan’s scholars, students, practitioners, civil society leaders, and activists (as of August 23, 2021, 3:45PM EST; list will be updated regularly) Higher education institutions 1. Dennis Hanno, President, Wheaton College (MA), MA 2. Cynthia Larive, Chancellor, University of California Santa Cruz, California 3. Suzan Harrison, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eckerd College, Florida 4. Eric Spina, President, University of Dayton, Ohio 5. Suzanne Rivera, President, Macalester College, Minnesota 6. Morton Schapiro, President, Northwestern University, Illinois 7. Valerie Smith, President, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania 8. Damian Fernandez, President, Eckerd College, FL 9. Michael Roth, President, Wesleyan University, CT 10. Andrew Hamilton, President, New York University, New York 11. Florian Becker, Director, Bard College Berlin, Berlin 12. Adela de la Torre, President, San Diego State University, California 13. Sophie Wauquier, Professor. Vice President in charge of academic freedom, University Paris 8 Vincennes St Denis 14. Nishi Dhupa, Associate Vice Provost, International Affairs, Cornell University, New York 15. Jonathan Holloway, President, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, NJ 16. Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University, Arizona 17. Sarah Mangelsdorf, President, University of Rochester, New York 18. Maud Mandel, President, Williams College, MA 19. Joanne Li, Chancellor, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Nebraska 20. Ronald Daniels, President, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland 21. Paula Johnson, President, Wellesley College, MA 22. Biddy Martin, President, Amherst College, Massachusetts 23. Leon Botstein, President, Bard College, New York 24. Jane Snyder, President, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, MA 25. Hannah Buxbaum, Vice President for International Affairs, Indiana University, Indiana 26. University of California System 27. Daniel Diermeier, Chancellor, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee 28. Colleen Hanycz, President, Xavier University, Ohio 29. Patrick Gallagher, Chancellor, University of Pittsburgh, PA 30. Barbara Wilson, President, University of Iowa, Iowa 31. Kim Wilcox, Chancellor, University of California Riverside, California 32. David Munson, Jr., President, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York 33. A. Gabriel Esteban, PhD, President, DePaul University, Illinois 34. Kathleen Murray, President, Whitman College, Washington 35. Suzanne Bentzel, Director of Federal Relations, West Virginia University, West Virginia 36. Sue Roberts, Associate Provost for Internationalization, University of Kentucky, Kentucky 37. Roger Brindley, Vice Provost for Global Programs, The Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania 38. Virginia Meehan, Director of Federal Relations, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 39. Frederick Clark, President, Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts 40. Carol Christ, Chancellor, University of California, Berkeley, California 41. Marina Stopler, Director, Lehman College, NY 42. Daniel Weiner, Vice President for Global Affairs, University of Connecticut, Connecticut 43. Safwan Masri, Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development, Columbia University, New York 44. Farnam Jahanian, President, Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania 45. Melissa Gilliam, Executive Vice President and Provost, The Ohio State University, Ohio Higher education or related associations, networks, societies, and organizations 1. Mariko Silver, President & CEO, Henry Luce Foundation, New York 2. James Grossman, Executive Director, American Historical Association, DC 3. Jacek Kucharczyk,