Trump Administration Considers Sending 1,100 Afghans From Qatar to Democratic Republic of Congo

The Trump administration is considering sending more than 1,000 Afghans who aided the U.S. war effort from Qatar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to multiple reports and advocacy groups.

“SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Trump administration is reportedly considering sending 1,100 Afghan wartime allies to the Democratic Republic of the Congo”

10News

CNN described a potential plan to send Afghan refugees who aided the American war effort to the Democratic Republic of Congo, quoting AfghanEvac president Shawn VanDiver warning that the plan could jeopardize their lives.

10News

ABC News said about 1,100 Afghans are currently at a U.S.-managed transit facility in Qatar and that they “may be sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo after President Donald Trump halted their U.S. settlement.”

AP reported that the Trump administration is in discussions to potentially send “more than 1,000 Afghans” from Qatar to a third country, with Congo described as an option by advocates.

NBC News similarly said the Democratic Republic of Congo is where “Hundreds of Afghan refugees who helped the United States fight the Taliban may be sent” after the Trump administration halted resettlement.

Across the coverage, the group’s location is consistently described as Camp As Sayliyah or Camp As-Sayliyah in Qatar, with the New York Times cited as the first to report the plan in several outlets.

The advocacy group AfghanEvac, led by Shawn VanDiver, is the central voice opposing the proposal and describing it as a forced choice between Congo and return to Afghanistan.

The reported Congo resettlement discussions are tied to a broader halt in U.S. Afghan resettlement and to legal and administrative changes affecting Afghan visa processing.

ABC News said the Trump administration paused the Afghan resettlement program “last year” as part of a series of executive orders cracking down on immigration, and it described the current group as people who helped the United States during its war on terror.

ABC News

AP linked the talks to the fact that negotiations come “more than a year after President Donald Trump paused his predecessor’s Afghan resettlement program,” leaving people stranded at places worldwide, including the base in Qatar.

The New Arab said the talks underscore “the legal hurdles” facing Afghans after U.S. immigrant visa processing for Afghan nationals was “effectively halted,” leaving them in limbo “more than four years after the US withdrawal from Kabul.”

The New Arab also described how, in last June, the Trump administration included Afghanistan on a list of 12 countries subject to a travel ban, with a narrow exemption for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for Afghans who served alongside troops and diplomats.

It further said that in November Washington stopped immigrant visa processing for all Afghan nationals following the deadly shooting of two U.S. National Guard members by an Afghan former CIA-backed paramilitary unit member, and that a federal judge ruled in February that the ban on Afghan SIV visa processing was illegal, but processing remained “effectively at a standstill.”

DW reported that the Afghans were relocated to Qatar after U.S.-led international forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, and it said the group includes interpreters and family members of U.S. soldiers.

Shawn VanDiver and AfghanEvac characterize the Congo proposal as dangerous and as a strategy that pressures Afghans into returning to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

ABC News quoted VanDiver saying, “The DRC is not a responsible option,” and it also included his argument that “You cannot call a choice voluntary when the two options are the Congo and the Taliban.”

AP quoted him at a virtual press conference saying, “You cannot call a choice voluntary when the two options are Congo and the Taliban, civil war or an oppressor who wants to kill you,” and it described his warning that “That is not a choice. That is a confession extracted under duress.”

NBC News quoted VanDiver saying, “This is insane,” and it repeated his claim that “you do not solve the world’s number one refugee crisis by dumping it into the world’s number two.”

The New Arab reported VanDiver told Reuters that the plan was “unacceptable,” including because of “chronic insecurity in the central African country,” and it quoted him saying, “I worry that this is just a way for State to wash their hands of these folks.”

The Jerusalem Post quoted VanDiver criticizing the move as giving refugees a choice between “the world’s number one refugee crisis to the world’s number two refugee crisis.”

DW quoted AfghanEvac describing the plan as an attempt to “manufacture a refusal.”

U.S. officials, as described in the reporting, are working to identify third-country options and are framing the move as voluntary resettlement intended to provide safety.

ABC News said a spokesperson at the State Department told reporters, “We remain in regular and direct communication with residents on resettlement efforts,” and it added that moving the Afghans 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.”

Al Jazeera

NBC News quoted a State Department spokesperson saying the U.S. is continuing “to work to identify options for voluntary resettlement of all Camp As Sayliyah (CAS) residents,” and it repeated the spokesperson’s description of moving residents to a third country as “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.”

The New Arab reported that a State Department spokesperson said in an email late on Tuesday that resettling the Afghans in a third country would be “a positive solution that would give them a chance to start a new life outside of Afghanistan,” and it said the spokesperson did not respond directly to whether Congo was among the countries under consideration.

DW similarly quoted the State Department spokesperson saying moving the camp population 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,” and it added that the spokesperson said the Afghan nationals at CAS “do not currently have a viable pathway to the United States.”

AP reported that the State Department said it is working to identify options to “voluntarily” resettle the refugees in a third country but did not confirm which nations were being discussed.

10News said that on Wednesday, the State Department said it is working to identify options to voluntarily resettle the refugees in a third country, but did not confirm which countries.

The reporting emphasizes that the choice facing the Afghans is central to the dispute, with advocates warning that returning to Afghanistan could mean persecution or death and with officials describing third-country movement as safety.

ABC News said VanDiver described an alternative to Congo as to “return to Afghanistan,” where they could be “targeted by Taliban forces,” and it quoted him saying, “Civil War, or an oppressor who wants to kill you.”

Al Jazeera

AP described the alternative as return to Afghanistan, where VanDiver said they face “likely reprisal or even death at the hands of the Taliban,” and it quoted him again that “That is not a choice. That is a confession extracted under duress.”

NBC News said advocates at the camp, which it described as “slated for closure,” say the Trump administration is trying to pressure them into returning to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where they potentially face “persecution, imprisonment or death under the Islamic fundamentalist regime.”

The Guardian reported that VanDiver said between 100 to 150 of the Afghans are family members of active-duty service members, while more than 700 are women and children, and it said he argued “The others should just come here,” adding “This is an easy solve: ‘Hey, welcome to America.’”

ABC News cited the U.N. Refugee Agency’s figures that “8.2 million people were displaced as of September 2025” and that the number was expected to reach “9 million by the end of the year.”

AP reported that negotiations include discussions with other countries such as Botswana and Malaysia, and it said Congo became the main option being discussed in early April.