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Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb visited Afghan refugees at the Indiana National Guard’s Camp Atterbury training base nearly a week after the first wave of evacuees arrived.
The first group of roughly 1,000 evacuees were admitted to the camp on Sept. 3. They will be provided temporary housing and support services before being resettled.
The Republican governor visited Wednesday.
“I’m so proud to see the work being done by the Indiana National Guard and our federal partners in such a short time to help these evacuees,” Holcomb said in a statement. “There has been an outpouring of kindness from Hoosiers to welcome those who aided and protected us.”
The last U.S. forces flew out of Kabul’s airport last week, ending America’s longest war following an airlift of Afghans, Americans and others escaping a country once again ruled by the Taliban.
Holcomb says Indiana is committed to helping the evacuees, which include American citizens, Afghan allies who helped in the military effort and those deemed vulnerable Afghans by the U.S. government.
Camp Atterbury, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Indianapolis, is expected to receive approximately 5,000 people evacuated from Afghanistan in the coming weeks, said Indiana National Guard Adjutant Gen. R. Dale Lyles.
The refugees will be subject to a 14-day quarantine at Camp Atterbury to determine their medical and visa statuses, Lyles said. Non-governmental agencies will aim to resettle them within 10 weeks.
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