Ever since taking oath as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump has taken drastic measures ranging from pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to implementing strict measures on immigration — including the suspension of visa processing for Afghans awaiting their resettlement in the US.
“It was really a horrible moment for us. We have been waiting for almost three years and there is no hope anymore,” decried 20-year-old Syed Hasib ullah whose application for resettlement in the US is in process.
Immigration, which emerged as a key element of Trump’s presidential campaign, seems to maintain its significance post his inauguration as he ordered the suspension of all refugee admissions which resulted in the cancellation of the arrival of nearly 1,660 Afghans who had in fact been cleared to resettle in the country.
The decision, in essence, has forced a suspension of flights for more than 40,000 Afghans approved for special US visas and at risk of the Taliban retribution, a leading advocate and a US official said on Saturday.
The stranded Afghans also include those who have been waiting to fly to the US from visa processing centres in Qatar and Albania.
Most of those stranded are in Afghanistan and the rest are in Pakistan, Qatar and Albania, said Shawn VanDiver — head of #AfghanEvac — the main coalition of veterans and advocacy groups working with the US government to evacuate and resettle Afghans who worked for the US during the 20-year war.
The development essentially shattered the hopes of thousands of Afghans with enthusiastic students left quiet or crying in class after the news broke, lamented Hasib Ullah.
The sudden delay has upended the plans of many Afghans in Pakistan and left them in despair after undergoing extensive vetting and making preparations for new lives in the US where nearly 200,000 Afghans have been resettled on Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) or as refugees since the chaotic 2021 US withdrawal.
“I feel very bad from this news,” said a 16 year-old-girl who broke down in tears.
The student, part of an intermediate language class of which half the students had US visa applications in process, hopes to enrol in high school in the US after being barred from pursuing her education at school in Afghanistan.
The tutoring academy, which has roughly 300 students, is one of the few spaces available for studying for many Afghans waiting for US visas.
Many have waited for years after being instructed when applying to travel to a third country for processing. For them, the only option was Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan but, facing economic and security crises, it began deporting tens of thousands of Afghans in 2023.
VanDiver further said there were 10,000-15,000 Afghans in Pakistan waiting for special immigration visas or resettlement in the US as refugees.
VanDiver said he does not believe that the flight suspension was intentional.
“We think it was a mistake,” he said, adding that he hoped the administration would grant exemptions to the orders for Afghans approved for SIVs because they worked for the US government.
“They fought alongside us. They bled alongside us,” he remarked.
‘Betrayed’
One of Hasib Ullah’s students, Fatima, has no idea whether an official email she received on January 14 — and seen by Reuters — seeking documents to proceed with her family’s travel arrangements for the US was still valid.
The 57-year-old women’s rights and development advocate who worked for years for US-funded organisations in central Daikundi province began learning English a few months ago.
She said she had previously never imagined leaving Afghanistan and that she and many others had trusted the US — which spent two decades leading foreign forces in Afghanistan, backing the now-collapsed government and spending billions of dollars on human rights and development programmes.
“You supported us at that time and raised us up so we worked with you and after that, you invited us to a third country [for visa processing] and now you are doing something like this,” she said.
In addition to concerns about her own safety following her advocacy work, Fatima is particularly worried about her 15-year-old daughter. She hopes she can enrol in school in the US after years out of high school, and that her 22-year-old daughter can complete her engineering degree.
Her concern comes against the backdrop of reports by the United Nations (UN) mission in Afghanistan claiming that the Taliban have detained, tortured and killed former soldiers and officials of the prior US-backed government.
Many students and teachers said they had contacted UN agencies and the US embassy this week and were sharing any information they could find on the internet in Whatsapp groups. But there were few clear answers.
The US embassy and State Department did not immediately provide comment in request to a question from Reuters on whether the new order would affect Afghans waiting in Pakistan for visas.
“We have been living here for three years with the hope of going to America to be safe but now when President Donald Trump came […] and told us we will not process these cases or maybe we will delay it, indeed you feel betrayed,” Hassib Ullah said.
“I just wanted to tell them respectfully that we have helped you and now we expect help back from you.”
