Ex-CIA analyst and war veteran says Afghan refugees should get the same opportunities as Ukrainian refugees

A former CIA analyst and Afghanistan war veteran said people from Afghanistan that are seeking refuge in the US are not being helped in the same way as Ukrainian refugees.

The senior advisor for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America told Insider that most of the people left behind in Afghanistan could be saved by the president.

The same humanitarian parole should be given to those waiting in Afghanistan.

More than 300,000 Afghan civilians helped the US military during the 20-year war, but many were left behind with many waiting for visas for years before the pullout, according to The New York Times. Since the Taliban took over, Zeller has been unable to get anyone out of the country.

The US pulled out of Afghanistan on August 30, 2011. The US military spent 20 years preventing terrorist attacks on NATO member countries from the region after 9/11.

The US response to refugees from both Russia and Ukraine has not been the same.

76,000 Afghans moved to the US after the withdrawal plans were announced. More than 71,000 Ukrainians have sought refuge in the US.

The Uniting for Ukraine program allows people in the US to sponsor Ukrainians in order to get them parole. It can take as long as 18 years for refugees to be granted parole and stay in the US.

A pathway for Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members who are outside the United States to come to the United States and stay temporarily in a two-year period of parole is called uniting.

There is no fee to apply, but participants are required to have a fully-vetted "supporter in the United States who agrees to provide them with financial support" for their two year stay.

The department's website states that Afghan nationals who remain in the country are not eligible for humanitarian parole.

The Parole for Afghan nationals is only available for those who made it outside of Afghanistan on their own.

Over 50,000 Afghans applied for humanitarian parole by the end of May, but only 270 were approved and 2,200 were denied.

Forbes reported that the parole application costs more than $600 and is not affordable for many.

"My qualm is, if we can do it for the Ukrainians, why can't we do it for our nation's longest wartime ally?" Zeller told Insider.

Guillaume Meyer/AFP via Getty Images

People who worked with the US military in Afghanistan can apply for the Special Immigration Visa program if they want to leave the country.

The program is only available to people who worked for the US in Iraq or Afghanistan. Up to 50 visas are issued a year.

"That's assuming that they survived the Taliban death squad that are actively hunting them or the famine that's ongoing, which is so horrible that parents are selling their children so that they can get food to feed their other kids."

Millions of Afghans have been affected by a food shortage due to economic turmoil. The shortage of food in Afghanistan has forced parents to sell their children to other families for food.

The only thing your readers need to know is that Afghanistan is a horrible place to live in. The majority of the people we were trying to help to die were abandoned.