US-bound flights of Afghan evacuees take off from Germany's Ramstein Air Base

On Saturday, October 9, flights of Afghan evacuees from Germany's Ramstein Air Base to the United States took off after being halted for a few weeks owing to confirmed cases of measles among the evacuees.

A spokeswoman for the 86th Airlift Wing told CNN that one flight left the base on Saturday with a few hundred evacuees bound for Philadelphia. Five additional flights are scheduled for Sunday, with an estimated 1,000 evacuees travelling to the United States each day until the entire Afghan population of 9,000 at Ramstein departs.

Brigadier General Josh Olson stated that they have been at this mission for longer than anyone expected but they are glad to be nearing the end of the mission and returning to routine operations. "We are fully focused on finishing the operation and bidding our guests a goodbye," he was quoted as saying by CNN. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had advocated delaying flights until the entire evacuee population receives vaccinations against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and other infections. Apart from this, it also advised a 21-day waiting period after the vaccines are administered.

More than 49,000 Afghan evacuees, sheltering at military bases in the United States, have received MMR and varicella vaccinations. Besides, vaccinations are also being administered to evacuees in Europe and the Middle East. It should be noted here that Ramstein became an important transit hub for Afghans fleeing their homeland on their way to the United States.

The base was only designed to host Afghans for ten days, but the evacuees were forced to stay for weeks when temperatures in Germany dropped, reported CNN. 

'14,000 Afghan evacuees to arrive in the United States'

Earlier, on Thursday, September 30, the chief of US Northern Command, General Glen VanHerck said that around 14,000 Afghans from different countries are likely to arrive in the United States in the coming days.

According to him, there are currently over 53,000 Afghan evacuees scattered across eight military bases in the country. He further informed that at least 4,000 evacuees have completed their medical and other screening processes, and have been cleared to resettle in the United States.

As they begin to settle into their new homes, space at the bases will be made available for those being flown in from overseas, VanHerck added, as reported by The Associated Press (AP). 

Image: Twitter/ @ USTRANSCOM