Advocates and family react to Trump’s cancellation of Afghan refugee resettlement | News about refugees

Afghans who fled their homeland after the Taliban return to power In 2021, they are asking the United States to review the decision to cancel all existing refugee resettlement efforts.

On Wednesday, the reactions against an executive order Trump signed two days earlier, on his first day in office.

That order called for the suspension of the US Refugee Readmission Program (USRAP), which processes refugees for resettlement in the country, starting on January 27. All applications and arrivals through the program have also been suspended.

But the sudden end to USRAP has left Afghan refugees — many already granted entry to the U.S. — in limbo, facing instability and the threat of violence.

Mahnoosh Monir, a former medical student and teacher at a language center in Afghanistan, fled to Pakistan after the Taliban closed the school where she worked.

Since taking power, the Taliban have severely limited it women’s rightseven a ban their ability to speak publicly.

Monir expressed surprise at Trump’s actions in an article published Wednesday in The Associated Press. She told the news agency that women would struggle to “survive” under Taliban rule.

“I didn’t expect this suspension to happen,” Monir said. “The long waiting period makes us think of very disappointing probabilities, such as being sent back to Afghanistan or waiting for a long time in Pakistan as a refugee at risk, which are like a nightmare for all case-holders.”

The US ‘owes a lot to the Afghans’

Others questioned whether the US was abdicating its responsibility to the Afghans who supported its military presence in the country for two decades.

Thousands of Afghans have cooperated with US armed forces and the US-backed government during the country’s two-decade-long war. After the fall of the US-backed government in August 2021, many feared Taliban retaliation and hoped to find safe haven in the US.

“President Trump’s decision to cancel the flights of Afghans and other refugees who have been cleared to come to the United States is cruel, ugly and racist,” Arash Azizzada, co-founder of the American advocacy organization Afghans For a Better Tomorrow, told Al Jazeera via text message.

“This decision will ensure that Afghans seeking safety can face assault, imprisonment, torture or worse under the brutal Taliban rule. The United States owes the Afghans a great debt, and we will ensure that America pays that debt long after this administration is over.”

Another advocacy group, Afghan USRAP Refugees, released an open letter to Trump and members of the US Congress, calling for action.

“Many of us have risked our lives to support the American mission as translators, contractors, human rights defenders and allies,” the letter said.

Even across the Afghan border in Pakistan, it warned that refugees were facing dangerous conditions.

“The situation in Pakistan is increasingly unsustainable. Arbitrary arrests, deportations and insecurity compound our plight.”

High demand

An estimated 15,000 Afghans are currently waiting in neighboring Pakistan to be approved for resettlement. Some are waited for years and spent countless hours navigating the complex bureaucracy of the US immigration system.

Others traveled to South America to embark on the perilous journey north to US-Mexico borderso that they can seek asylum.

The United Nations has called the situation in Afghanistan is “one of the most urgent world crises”. More than half a million Afghans are predicted to need resettlement in 2025.

According to a report by the US Department of State, more than 160,000 The Afghans have arrived in the country since August 2021. Still, advocates have criticized former President Joe Biden’s administration for slow decisions upon entry.

Trump, who replaced Biden on Monday, campaigned on a strict platform restricting immigration in the USA. During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, the Republican leader also implemented an entry ban for citizens of several Muslim-majority countries, prompting critics to dub the policy the “Muslim ban.”

In Monday’s executive order, Trump defended his actions as necessary, describing the US as overwhelmed by arrivals.

“The United States lacks the capacity to absorb large numbers of migrants, particularly refugees, into its communities in a way that does not jeopardize the availability of resources for Americans,” the executive order said.

It is not clear when and if the USRAP will be resumed. Trump called for a report on the program at the end of 90 days — and at the end of each 90-day period thereafter, until he determines that “restarting USRAP is in the interest of the United States.”

The announcement raised concerns among those in the US, including military service members, with family members still in Afghanistan or in refugee camps.

“All day I just think about this,” said an Afghan American soldier from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

His sister remains in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul. “I can’t even do my job properly because this is affecting me mentally.”