Diversity Visa Winners Stuck in Afghanistan After US Withdraw

They beat the odds and won a chance to legally immigrate to the United States under a lottery visa program for nationals from countries with low numbers of immigrants to the U.S.

But after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan followed by the American military withdrawal completed on Monday, these once-lucky Afghans fear they may never be able to leave their country. After 20 years of war in Afghanistan spanning four American presidencies, the U.S. government slammed the door on the last evacuation flights of civilian Afghans last weekend, leaving behind hundreds of these diversity visa winners. S., a 27-year-old former women’s rights advocate living in Kabul, is among them.