Afghans fleeing Taliban urge Trump to lift refugee program suspension

ISLAMABAD — Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized power appealed Wednesday to U.S. President Donald Trump to exempt them from an order suspending the relocation of refugees to the United States, some saying they risked their lives to support U.S. troops.

An estimated 15,000 Afghans are waiting in Pakistan to be approved for resettlement in the U.S. via an American government program. It was set up to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban because of their work with the U.S. government, media, aid agencies and rights groups, after U.S. troops pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, when the Taliban took power.

But in his first days in office, Trump's administration announced the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program would be suspended from Jan. 27 for at least three months. During that period, the White House said the secretary of homeland security in consultation with the secretary of state will submit a report to the president on whether the resumption of the program is in the U.S. interest.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, where authorities have urged the world community to decide the fate of the 1.45 million Afghan refugees, saying they cannot stay indefinitely.

''Many of us risked our lives to support the U.S. mission as interpreters, contractors, human rights defenders, and allies,'' an advocacy group called Afghan USRAP Refugees — named after the U.S. refugee program — said in an open letter to Trump, members of Congress and human rights defenders.

''The Taliban regards us as traitors, and returning to Afghanistan would expose us to arrest, torture, or death,'' the group said. ''In Pakistan, the situation is increasingly untenable. Arbitrary arrests, deportations, and insecurity compound our distress.''

Hadisa Bibi, a former student in Kabul who fled to neighboring Pakistan last month, said she read in newspapers that Trump suspended the refugee program.

''Prior to restrictions on women's education in Afghanistan, I was a university student,'' she said. ''Given the risks I face as a women's rights advocate, I was hoping for a swift resettlement to the United States. This would not only allow me to continue my higher education but also offer a safer and brighter future.''

She said she witnessed several Afghans arrested by Pakistani police, which left her in fear, "confined to my room like a prisoner.''

Mahnoosh Monir said she was a medical student in Afghanistan when her education was ''cruelly suspended by the Taliban." Before fleeing to Pakistan, she worked as a teacher at a language center but it also was shut by the Taliban.

''Afghanistan is no longer a place for any girl or woman to survive," she said, adding she was disappointed by Trump's move.

''I didn't expect this suspension to happen. A long span of waiting makes us think of very disappointing probabilities like being sent back to Afghanistan or waiting for a long time in Pakistan as a refugee at risk, which are like nightmares to all of case holders," she said.

Another Afghan woman, Farzana Umeed, and a man, Sarfraz Ahmed, said in an interview on the outskirts of Islamabad that they are traumatized over the suspension of the program. ''I virtually wept last night when we heard this news," Umeed said. She said it is difficult for her to live in Pakistan, and she cannot travel to America either. "Returning to my home country also means taking a huge risk. What should I do,'' she asked, and urged Trump to reverse his decision.

The Taliban have deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of schooling through bans, according to the United Nations. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education.

Both Bibi and Monir applied for relocation and are still waiting. Over time, the visa process for Afghans who demonstrate they are at risk of persecution had become protracted.

According to the Afghan USRAP Refugees group, flights to the U.S. for many Afghans had been scheduled for January, February and March after they were interviewed by the International Organization for Migration and U.S. Embassy officials.

''We seek the reversal of the ban on the refugee program on humanitarian ground,'' said Ahmad Shah, a member of the group, who was hoping to leave Pakistan for the United States in March after undergoing all interviews and medical tests.

In addition to Pakistan, more than 3,200 Afghans are staying in Albania. A NATO member, Albania first agreed to house fleeing Afghans for one year before they move for final settlement in the United States, then pledged to keep them longer if their visas are delayed.