US considers sending 1,100 Afghan refugees in Qatar to Congo or back to Afghanistan, report says
The US is reportedly weighing a plan to move over 1,100 Afghan refugees from Qatar to DR Congo or return them to Afghanistan.
The United States is considering relocating more than 1,100 Afghan refugees stranded in Qatar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or alternatively sending them back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, according to a report by The New York Times.
The report said the proposal targets Afghans currently held in a transit facility in Qatar, as Washington looks for “third-country resettlement options” amid stalled relocation processes.
Shawn VanDiver, head of AfghanEvac, said US officials had briefed him on the plan and expected strong resistance from refugees if relocation to Congo proceeds.
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans who worked with US and NATO forces have sought resettlement abroad, with many still stuck in temporary processing hubs.
More than 190,000 Afghans have already been relocated to the US, but uncertainty persists for those remaining in transit countries such as Qatar.
The proposed relocation to DR Congo has raised concerns due to ongoing instability and armed conflict in parts of the country, including displacement linked to regional violence in Central Africa.
Critics argue that sending vulnerable Afghan families to another fragile state risks compounding their humanitarian insecurity instead of resolving it.
The US State Department, while not confirming Congo specifically, said it is reviewing “voluntary third-country resettlement options” for individuals in Qatar’s processing facility.
It added that the goal is to identify “positive pathways” for Afghans to begin new lives outside their home country.
US lawmakers, including Senator Tim Kaine, have criticized the proposal as unacceptable, urging Washington to honour its commitments to Afghan partners who assisted US missions.
The post US considers sending 1,100 Afghan refugees in Qatar to Congo or back to Afghanistan, report says appeared first on Khaama Press.