US plans to send 1,100 stranded Afghans to ‘unstable’ Democratic Republic of Congo

• Advocacy groups call plan ‘unacceptable’; fear refusal could force return to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
• Evacuees left in limbo for years at Qatar base; many tied to US military, aid work
• Path to United States stalled after Trump halted visa processing

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is in discussions with the Democratic Republic of Congo to resettle 1,100 Afghans, who have been stranded in Qatar for years while awaiting US visas, an advocacy organisation said.

The talks highlight the protracted legal and logistical hurdles facing Afghans who fled the Taliban after US immigrant visa processing for their home country was effectively halted. They have remained in limbo more than four years after the US military withdrawal from Kabul.

Shawn VanDiver, founder and president of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of veterans’ and advocacy groups, told Reuters that US officials briefed him on the plan. He described the proposal to send the Afghans to Congo as “unacceptable”, citing the central African country’s chronic insecurity.

The Afghans are currently housed at Camp As Sayliyah, a former US Army base in Qatar, where they were initially transferred to complete their visa processing for entry into the United States. Some are relatives of American citizens, while others worked for US-funded organisations during the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.

Their path to the US was obstructed after processing ground to a halt following the Trump administration’s return to office in January 2025.

Last June, the administration added Afghanistan to a list of 12 countries subject to a travel ban, although it included a narrow exemption for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for Afghans who had served alongside American troops and diplomats.

By November, however, Washi­ngton had stopped all immigrant visa processing for Afghan nationals. The decision followed the fatal shooting of two US National Guard members by a former member of a CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary unit.

While a federal judge ruled in February that the administration’s ban on Afghan SIV processing was illegal, VanDiver said the process remains effectively at a standstill. #AfghanEvac said in a statement Tuesday that all 1,100 Afghans in Qatar have been vetted for resettlement.

A State Department spokesperson, in an email late on Tuesday, said resettling the Afghans in a third country would be a “positive solution” that would allow them to start new lives outside Afghanistan.

The spokesperson did not directly answer a question about whether Congo was among the nations being considered. The Congolese government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NYT first reported on the resettlement effort.

Congo has been plagued by decades of conflict and is currently battling a Rwanda-backed rebel movement that made significant territorial gains in the country’s east last year. The ongoing violence makes it unlikely the Afghans would agree to be resettled there, VanDiver said.

He voiced concern that a refusal could be used by US officials as a pretext for returning them to Afghanistan.

“I worry that this is just a way for State to wash their hands of these folks, many of whom are women, children, and family of US military, that will ultimately result in them becoming stateless or having to go back to certain death in Afghanistan,” VanDiver said.

According to VanDiver, the administration had previously tried to resettle the group in Botswana. VanDiver said the deal fell through after Botswana objected to a new US policy requiring its citizens to post a $15,000 bond for certain US visas. Sources told AFP that Taliban officials are expected in Brussels in the coming weeks for discussions.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2026