Letter to Mike Pompeo, Department of State Secretary - Rep. TJ Sends Letter Urging State Department to Protect Sikhs in Afghanistan

Letter

Dear Secretary Pompeo,

We write to express our deep concern about the safety of the vulnerable Sikh
religious minority in Afghanistan, which continues to be under grave threat from Islamic
State terrorist attacks directed at Sikhs. As you know, on March 25, Islamic State
terrorists attacked a Sikh gurdwara (house of worship) in Kabul, killing 25 people,
including a four-year old girl. A second attack targeted the funeral for those killed at the
gurdwara, compounding the tragedy and highlighting that the threat against this
community remains profound.

Once a thriving community of nearly 250,000 people, the Sikh and Hindu community in
Afghanistan has endured years of discrimination and violence from extremists, and the
community is now estimated to comprise fewer than 100 families across the
country. The immediate threat to the Sikh religious minority in Afghanistan from the
Islamic State remains severe, and much of the community is now seeking relocation
outside of Afghanistan for their safety.

Throughout your tenure as Secretary of State, you have consistently touted the
importance of religious freedom as a fundamental principle. Two months ago, you
marked the establishment of an International Religious Freedom Alliance, a group of
like-minded countries committed to advancing religious freedom and "predicated on the
idea that more must be done to protect members of religious minority groups."

Mr. Secretary, more must be done to protect the vulnerable Sikh and Hindu religious
minorities in Afghanistan. We recognize that travel restrictions resulting from the global
outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have led to the temporary suspension of
admissions for most refugees. However, the situation is urgent for Afghan Sikhs and
Hindus. This community already faces existential danger in Afghanistan, and the
severity of that threat is only likely to increase in the weeks and months to come.

As such, we urge you to take all available steps to facilitate the safe and expeditious
relocation of members of the Sikh and Hindu religious minorities in Afghanistan. In
particular, we strongly recommend that you consider referring these vulnerable
individuals to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) through Priority 1
embassy referrals.

We understand that such referrals to the USRAP are generally used in small numbers and
situations of extreme danger, but we believe this situation is extremely grave and urge
you to expand the use of this measure to save Afghan Sikhs and Hindus. We also urge
you to reallocate current refugee admissions priorities based on global needs to allow for
Afghan Sikhs and Hindus to come to the United States this fiscal year.

We strongly encourage you to engage the other member countries in the International
Religious Freedom Alliance to secure their support and involvement in helping to protect
and safely relocate this vulnerable religious minority community from Afghanistan.

The protection of religious freedom is one of principles on which the International
Religious Freedom Alliance was founded, and now is the time to demonstrate the
administration's commitment to that principle by leading this alliance in coordinated,
multilateral action to protect an endangered religious minority community.