Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized power have appealed to US President Donald Trump to exempt them from an order suspending the relocation of refugees to the US.
An estimated 15,000 Afghans are waiting in Pakistan to be approved for resettlement in the US via an American government programme.
It was set up to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban because of their work with the US government, media, aid agencies and rights groups, after US troops pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021 when the Taliban took power.
But in his first days in office, Mr Trump’s administration announced the US Refugee Admissions Programme would be suspended from January 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 programme is in the US interest.
Refugees who had been approved to travel to the US before January 27 have had their travel plans cancelled by the Trump administration.
Among those affected are the more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to resettle in the US. That number includes those who worked alongside American soldiers during the war as well as family members of active-duty US military personnel.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, where authorities have urged the international community to decide the fate of 1.45 million Afghan refugees, saying they cannot stay indefinitely.
“Many of us risked our lives to support the US mission as interpreters, contractors, human rights defenders, and allies,” an advocacy group called Afghan USRAP Refugees — named after the US refugee programme — said in an open letter to Trump, members of Congress and human rights defenders.
“The Taliban regard 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 neighbouring Pakistan last month, said she read in newspapers that Mr Trump suspended the refugee programme.
“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”.
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.
Another Afghan woman, Farzana Umeed, and a man, Sarfraz Ahmed, said in an interview on the outskirts of Islamabad they were traumatised by the suspension of the programme.
“I virtually wept last night when we heard this news,” Ms Umeed said.
She said it was difficult for her to live in Pakistan, and she could not travel to America either.
“Returning to my home country also means taking a huge risk. What should I do?” she asked, and urged Mr Trump to reverse his decision.
Those in exile in Pakistan include Afghan journalists who were forced to escape Taliban rule to save their lives, and now face “extreme anxiety under the recurring threat of arbitrary arrest, police harassment and deportation to Afghanistan,” Reporters Without Borders said on Wednesday.
The media watchdog urged Pakistan to ensure the protection of these journalists, who say their visa is extended only for a month for a 100 dollar fee.
According to the Afghan USRAP Refugees group, flights to the US for many Afghans had been scheduled for January, February and March after they were interviewed by the International Organisation for Migration and US Embassy officials.
“We seek the reversal of the ban on the refugee program on humanitarian grounds,” 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 Afghans for one year before they moved for final settlement in the US, then pledged to keep them longer if their visas were delayed.
