Afghanistan evacs become chaotic

KABUL, Afghanistan (NBC) – With tens of thousands of Americans and Afghans still trapped in Afghanistan, U.S. officials are struggling to speed up emergency evacuations.

This is what you have to face to get into the last remaining us base at Kabul airport: shooting, violence, Taliban whips, and desperate crowds. It’s so chaotic Americans worry if they open the gates people will flood in.

Inside the base, Afghans are processed for departure and moved to the flight line.

That’s where we met Gina Abawi, an Afghan American from Virginia. She moved back to Afghanistan to teach 6 years ago when it was much safer.

She said, “It was a dream come true for me. I’ve built a little house by the mountains. I just cannot imagine leaving but unfortunately, it’s time to go.”

She’s bringing 25 members of her extended family. She doesn’t want to leave. She said, “I don’t know how much longer it’s going to be there, but this is really sad. I don’t know if I’m going to be back. I’m hoping but i don’t know if I’ll ever be back.”

Gina’s relatives gave final hugs. They don’t want to be leaving either. But they don’t want to live under the Taliban. Finally, it’s boarding time. For Gina, it’s a painful goodbye. For most of the Afghans onboard, this is start of their new lives as refugees.

Because the evacuations have become so much more chaotic, it’s changing who is being evacuated, who is getting on those flights. The process was set up to bring out American citizens, foreign contractors and Afghans who worked closely with American troops. They were supposed to have submitted their forms online to the State Department, arrive with packets proving their identities. Instead, the State Department is processing when these flights arrive, unaccompanied minors, people who have no documentation at all and they don’t exactly know who it is they’re receiving.

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