Kabul, Afghanistan — The Afghan Foreign Ministry says Afghans who helped the American war effort They are stuck in Qatar hoping to reach the United States and be able to safely return to Afghanistan.
A statement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi on Saturday followed Reports have emerged that the Trump administration is in discussions For the possibility of sending 1,100 Afghans who helped the United States during its war in Afghanistan and relatives of American service members to the Congo.
An organization called #AfghanEvac, which supports resettlement efforts in Afghanistan, said on Wednesday that US officials had informed the group of discussions between the US and Pakistan. Congo Regarding the reception of Afghan refugees who were forgotten in Camp Al Sailiya, an American base in Doha, during the past year.
The State Department said it was working to identify options to resettle refugees “voluntarily” in a third country, but did not confirm which countries were being discussed.
#AfghanEvac said the alternative offered to refugees is to return to Afghanistan, where they fear retaliation or even death at the hands of the Taliban, which runs the country. Since they seized power Following the chaotic withdrawal of US-led forces in 2021, for working alongside the United States during the two-decade war.
The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs “reaffirms that Afghanistan constitutes a common homeland for all Afghans and calls on all concerned, as well as others in a similar situation, to return to their homeland, whose doors remain open to them, and to do so with full confidence.” & Peace of mind,” Balkhi wrote in his statement.
He added, “Those who intend to travel to another country can do so at a convenient time through the law.” & Generous channels.” Balkhi said that the Afghan Foreign Ministry “is ready to deal with all countries,” adding that the Foreign Ministry “assures all parties that there are no security threats in Afghanistan.” & “No one is forced to leave the country for security considerations.”
In a joint statement published by the #AfghanEvac group on behalf of those at Camp Al Sailiya, the Afghans said they had not received any information from US officials about talks about their possible transfer, and had only learned about this from the press. They said that the state of oblivion in which they were living affected them severely.
“Many of us are not well. The uncertainty has been more than some of us can bear. There is deep depression,” the group said, adding that some are struggling with their mental health due to the situation.
“We will say it clearly. We do not want to go to the DRC,” the group said, adding: “It is a country in its own war. We have been through enough war. We cannot take our children to another war.”
The African country has been battered for decades Fighting Between government forces and Rwandan-backed rebels in the eastern region.
The Afghans in the camp in Doha said that returning to Afghanistan is not an option either. “The Taliban will kill many of us because of what we did for the United States,” the group said in its statement. “This is not fear. This is reality. And the United States knows this, because the United States is the reason we cannot return home.”
The transfer discussions, initially reported by The New York Times, come more than a year after President Donald Trump He halted the Afghan resettlement program launched by his predecessor As part of a series of executive orders Tightening the stranglehold on immigration.
The policy has left thousands of refugees fleeing war and persecution, going through a sometimes years-long vetting process to start a new life in America, and stranded in places around the world, including the base in Qatar.
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Bekatoros reported from Athens, Greece.