Afghans who were promised a home in the United States after their country fell to the Taliban say they have waited so long for the US to process their applications that they are now being sent back to the enemy they fled.
A number of Afghans who worked with the US and were told they were eligible for resettlement there have been forcibly deported back to Afghanistan from Pakistan, where they fled to await processing following the Taliban takeover in 2021, CNN can reveal.
One man waiting for a US visa described being dropped at the Afghan border by Pakistani police this summer. “They did not hand us over to the (Taliban) Afghan border forces,” he said. “They just released us on the border and told us to go back to Afghanistan. It was me, my four kids and my wife deported together.” He is now living in hiding in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Another deported Afghan, also speaking from hiding in Kabul, said: “So this is very, very dangerous, and it is very tough… How many people have been killed, had been tortured, have been disappeared?” The man, a former employee of a US contractor, said the Taliban “will punish me, they will put me in jail. Maybe they will kill me? I’m sure they will.” He added: “Still, we believe that the USA will help us. We believe we didn’t lose our hope still.”
Both individuals spoke to CNN anonymously for their safety, and provided documentation showing a US visa case number being processed, and evidence of their presence in Pakistan.
And everyone but the poor Afghans knew this was how it was going to play out from the start. :(
Refoulement. This is tricky because Pakistan is not signatory to the UN 1951 Refugee Convention.
Yeah really tricky, not like any other signatory could step up and help some refugees. Broke arse Pakistan should house Americas shame.
Worthless-ass, evil Pakistan helped create the Taliban and supported them the whole time, even hiding Bin Ladin while taking billions from us to find them.
They’re lucky they got off as easily as they did, the US needs to work with India to make sure they learn a lesson from this.
For that, policymakers will have to stop being wishywashy and actually commit to some sort of action on Pakistan, beyond just propping up their economy with bailout packages that will eventually end up in China’s pockets.
