Updated: Aug 31, 2021
Over 110,000 people have been airlifted from Afghanistan since the start of the evacuations in July, with over a third flown out of Kabul in just 48 hours between Tuesday and Thursday in over 180 US military and coalition flights.
Tens of thousands are now awaiting background checks at bases in a network of transit centers - dubbed "lily pads" - across the Persian Gulf and Europe before being brought to the US or sent to a third country for relocation. John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, has said that the US plans to start the resettlement of those who arrived in America by first placing some 25,000 refugees at four military bases.
From Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; Fort Lee, Virginia or Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, the refugees can move to more permanent shelter, arranged with the help of religious and private charities and community efforts.
But time is running out for out for those left behind as the security situation in Afghanistan deteriorates.