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Qatar limbo and the return push
Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said Afghans who helped America’s war effort and have been stuck in Qatar can safely return to Afghanistan, after reports emerged that the Trump administration is discussing sending 1,100 Afghans who assisted the U.S. during its war in Afghanistan and relatives of U.S. service members to Congo.
“Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Thursday criticized the Trump administration's plan to close one of the key Afghan refugee transit centers in Qatar, warning that the move could strand hundreds of people without support and undermine America's commitments to wartime allies”
In a statement Saturday, foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said Afghanistan “reiterates that Afghanistan constitutes the shared homeland of all Afghans and it invites all those concerned, as well as others sharing a similar situation, (to) return to their homeland, whose doors remain open to them, to do so with full confidence & peace of mind,” and added that “those intending to travel to another country may do so at an appropriate juncture through legal & dignified channels.”
The Taliban also urged return, with The Media Line reporting that Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said there is “currently no security threat to anyone in Afghanistan” and that people are “not being compelled to leave the country due to insecurity.”
The statements come as Afghans in limbo at Camp As-Sayliyah, a U.S. base in Doha, said they had received no information from U.S. officials about the talks and learned about them “from the press,” according to a joint statement posted by the #AfghanEvac group.
#AfghanEvac said the state of limbo has taken a “severe toll,” with the group saying, “Many of us are not well. The uncertainty has been more than some of us can carry. There is deep depression,” and that some are struggling with mental health.
The Media Line added that the US-run facility was set to shut down on March 31, and that the camp served as a temporary refuge for former Afghan commandos, interpreters, and family members of U.S. service personnel evacuated during the chaotic withdrawal after the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
Congo option and the US stance
The core dispute centers on what happens to Afghans waiting at Camp As-Sayliyah in Doha after U.S. officials raised the possibility of relocating them to a third country rather than resettling them in the United States.
The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration is in discussions to potentially send 1,100 Afghans who assisted the U.S. during its war in Afghanistan and relatives of U.S. service members to Congo, and said the State Department is working to identify options to “voluntarily” resettle the refugees in a third country without confirming which nations were being discussed.
#AfghanEvac said U.S. officials informed the group of discussions between the United States and Congo about taking the Afghan refugees who have been in limbo at Camp As-Sayliyah for the past year, and the group said an alternative offered to the refugees was to return to Afghanistan.
The Afghans in the camp rejected the Congo option in their joint statement, saying, “We will say this plainly. We do not want to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” and adding, “it is a country in its own war. We have been in enough war. We cannot take our children into another one.”
The Media Line similarly described the reported plan as a move that would send more than 1,100 Afghan allies from Qatar to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it quoted American senators criticizing the proposal, including Senator Alex Padilla saying, “Unbelievable. When we betray our allies, we signal to every future partner that the US isn’t worthy of their trust.”
In parallel, the State Department’s position was described in the Radio Azadi report as a claim that moving Afghans at the Qatar camp “to a third country is a positive resolution that provides safety for these remaining people to start a new life outside of Afghanistan while upholding the safety and security of the American people.”
Voices inside the camp
Within Camp As-Sayliyah in Doha, Afghans described the uncertainty as both physical and psychological, and they framed the U.S. decision-making as something they learned through the press rather than direct briefings.
“Afghanistan urges US-allied Afghans stranded in Qatar to return home Afghanistan’s foreign ministry says Afghans who helped America’s war effort and have been stuck in Qatar in the hope of reaching the United States, can safely return to Afghanistan”
The Associated Press reported that in a joint statement posted by #AfghanEvac on behalf of those in Camp As-Sayliyah, the Afghans said they had received no information from U.S. officials about the talks to relocate them and had found out “from the press.”
The same statement said, “Many of us are not well. The uncertainty has been more than some of us can carry. There is deep depression,” and it added that some were struggling with their mental health because of the situation.
The Afghans also rejected return to Afghanistan as a practical option, saying, “The Taliban will kill many of us for what we did for the United States,” and insisting, “This is not a fear. This is a fact. The United States knows this, because the United States is the reason we cannot go home.”
In a separate account, Radio Azadi reported that an Afghan refugee in the camp said he was offered money to return to Afghanistan, stating, “Two to three months have passed since this offer was made to everyone; that if someone voluntarily returns to Afghanistan, some money will be given as aid, not as compensation.”
Radio Azadi also quoted the same refugee saying, “America has committed to us; we did not go ourselves, but they brought us here; they must stand by their commitments,” while another refugee described waiting “for more than a year” and said, “All our steps were completed and we thought we would be transferred to the United States from this camp within a week or two.”
US politics and congressional backlash
U.S. lawmakers and advocacy voices described the Qatar camp closure and the reported relocation plan as a threat to commitments made to Afghan allies, while U.S. policy changes were linked to the current limbo.
The Media Line reported that American senators strongly criticized the plan to move Afghan allies from Qatar to Congo, quoting Senator Alex Padilla: “Unbelievable. When we betray our allies, we signal to every future partner that the US isn’t worthy of their trust.”
It also quoted Senator Jeff Merkley describing the proposal as “evil and wrong,” and said several senators including Tammy Duckworth, Tim Kaine, and Ed Markey criticized the reported relocation plan and called for an immediate halt and stronger protections for Afghan allies.
Amu TV reported Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticizing the Trump administration’s plan to close Camp As Sayliyah, warning it would be done “without a concrete plan to securely house those living there,” and she said those affected include women, children, and Afghan citizens who helped U.S. forces during the twenty years of war.
Shaheen urged the government to honor commitments made after U.S. troops withdrew in 2021 and warned that abandoning Afghan partners would undermine America’s credibility, saying, “Turning away from partners who stood with American forces is a deep betrayal of our values.”
Khaama Press also quoted Gregory W. Meeks calling the decision “short-sighted” and warning that closing this camp would “severely undermine U.S. efforts to relocate Afghans who cooperated with American forces during the 20-year war,” describing it as a “betrayal of Afghan allies and U.S. commitments.”
Competing narratives and what’s next
Across the reporting, the same situation is framed in sharply different ways: Afghanistan and the Taliban emphasize safety and voluntary return, while Afghan evacuee advocates and some U.S. lawmakers portray the choices as coercive, risky, or both.
“Afghan Refugees May Be Moved from Qatar to Congo; Taliban Urge Return KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to reports about the possible transfer of Afghan refugees by the United States from Qatar to the Republic of Congo, has stated that these individuals can “confidently” return to Afghanistan”
The Taliban government’s foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said Afghans in Qatar can return “with full confidence,” and The Sun Malaysia quoted him saying Afghanistan “constitutes the shared homeland of all Afghans & it invites all those concerned… (to) return to their homeland, whose doors remain open to them, with full confidence & peace of mind.”
The Media Line likewise said the Taliban urged return while maintaining “there is currently no security threat to anyone in Afghanistan” and that citizens are not compelled to leave due to insecurity.
By contrast, the Associated Press described the Afghans’ view that returning is not an option, quoting their statement that “The Taliban will kill many of us for what we did for the United States,” and that “This is not a fear. This is a fact. The United States knows this.”
Radio Azadi added a further layer by describing financial assistance offered to encourage return, with one refugee saying, “The people’s demand is not money; rather, they want to be moved to the United States or to a European country,” and another saying, “Now they have told us that at the end of March we will be transferred to a third country, but that third country is not specified.”
The Media Line reported that Camp As-Sayliyah was set to shut down on March 31, and Amu TV said the center was used to process and conduct security screening of Afghan citizens awaiting transfer to the United States.
