The US government is currently in talks to send Afghans living at a former US base in Qatar to the Democratic Republic of Congo, AfghanistanEvac, a group willing to help former allies, said on Tuesday.
Following the withdrawal of US-led international forces from Afghanistan in 2021, Afghans were relocated to Qatar because they had provided aid to US forces.
About 1,100 Afghans, of whom about 400 are children, are living in As Sayalia camp in Qatar.
The group includes interpreters working for the US military, Afghan military commandos and family members of US soldiers, according to new York Times, Who first gave information about the scheme.
What do we know about the plan?
Shawn Vandiver, president of AfghanEvac, said his organization suspects Washington wants to send former US military allies back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
AfghanAvac said the plan to send them to Congo is an attempt to “denialize” them.
“Offer to transfer these families to an active war zone in the Democratic Republic of Congo, wait for the predictable ‘no’ knowing they cannot accept it. Then use that ‘no’ as a public justification to send them back to Afghanistan,” it said in a statement.
It says, “You don’t transfer wartime allies, over 400 of whom are children, from American custody to a country that is in the midst of its collapse.”
According to UN figures, there are about 6.9 million internally displaced people in Congo, particularly in the east of the country which has seen fierce fighting between the army and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
More than 517,000 refugees from neighboring countries are also present in Congo, mainly from the Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
The State Department declined to confirm that Congo was being considered as a destination, but said the United States was considering “voluntary resettlement” from the As Sayalia camp in Qatar.
A State Department spokesperson said, “Moving the (camp) population to a third country is a positive resolution that provides the protection these remaining individuals need to start a new life outside Afghanistan while maintaining the safety of the American people.”
Trump stops Afghan rehabilitation program
More than 190,000 Afghans have been resettled to the United States since the Taliban took power following the withdrawal of US-led international forces in August 2021.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to curb migration since taking office in January 2025, and in November ordered a halt to the refugee status process for people from Afghanistan after an Afghan shot two National Guard soldiers near the White House, killing one.
The man had worked with US intelligence and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Trump had given a deadline of March 31 to close the As Sayiliyah camp in Qatar.
Edited by: Louis Olofse