Pakistan Sets Deadline For West To Relocate Afghan Refugees
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal and Rashid Khattak
February 5, 2025
ISLAMABAD — Afghan journalist Mahmood Kochai and his family had plane tickets to the United States, where they hoped to make a fresh start after spending more than three years in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
But their travel plans were canceled after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration announced that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) would be suspended for at least three months starting on January 27.
Kochai is among the thousands of Afghans who had been approved to resettle in the United States. Once the family of five — Kochai, his wife, their daughter, son, and daughter-in-law — were cleared to take their flights, he resigned from his job with the Afghanistan International news channel.
Their temporary visas in Pakistan were to expire on February 5, and they say they now have no place to go.
“Everything is going from bad to worse,” Kochai told RFE/RL on February 4. “Afghan refugees in Pakistan are caught between a rock and a hard place: The [Pakistani] police are chasing us out of their country; it’s not safe for us to return to Afghanistan, and we cannot go to other countries.”
Adding to the Afghan refugees’ plight, Pakistan has decided to deport thousands of Afghan refugees awaiting resettlement in the West if the prospective host countries don’t relocate them by March 31, a source close to the government told RFE/RL.
The decision was made at a cabinet meeting on January 30, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. The Voice of America and the Associated Press also reported on the decision, citing unnamed sources.
If implemented, the decision will affect Afghans in Pakistan who are seeking asylum in third countries because of their affiliation with U.S. and NATO forces and other Western and international organizations.
Tens of thousands of at-risk Afghans left for neighboring Pakistan fearing retribution after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan recently said that nearly 80,000 Afghan refugees have left Pakistan to be resettled in various countries, while about 40,000 are still in Pakistan.
That includes some 15,000 Afghans waiting to be approved for resettlement to the United States.
Left In Limbo
Journalist Ezzatullah Mahjur is waiting for a visa through the Special Visa Program (SIV) that has been available for Afghans who worked with the U.S. military as translators between the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 and the withdrawal in 2021.
He is hopeful the refugee resettlement process will eventually resume.
“Since the suspension of flights, some people who have gotten visas through the SIV have tried to reach the United States at their own expense. But some of them were turned back from Dubai, and I know at least one person who was turned away from a Washington airport,” Mahjur told RFE/RL on February 4.
It is not clear if the Trump administration will resume the resettlement program.
In his January 20 order, Trump said the secretaries of homeland security and state must submit a report every 90 days “regarding whether resumption of entry of refugees into the United States under the USRAP would be in the interests of the United States.”
Beside those waiting for relocation to the West, Pakistan also hosts about 1.45 million Afghan citizens registered as refugees with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Their stay in Pakistan has been extended until June.
Some 800,000 Afghans have either been deported or returned voluntarily to their home county since Pakistan began a major crackdown on refugees in November 2023.
Pakistan continues to track down and deport Afghans who are neither registered with the UNHCR nor awaiting resettlement to a third country.
Written by Farangis Najibullah with reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Taliban-Pakistan Border Tensions Escalate As Group Orders Evacuation Of Residents
Afghanistan International: The Taliban has instructed residents in the border areas of Bahram Chah district, Helmand province, to evacuate due to the risk of intensified clashes between Taliban forces and Pakistani border guards, local sources have reported. Sporadic fighting between the two sides has reportedly been ongoing for the past two days along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. According to a local resident, both Taliban forces and Pakistani border guards have reinforced their positions in the area, with the Taliban urging civilians to leave to prevent casualties in the event of heavy fighting. Click here to read more (external link).
UN warns maternal deaths in Afghanistan may rise after US funding pause
Ariana: A United Nations aid official said on Tuesday that Washington’s funding pause would cut off millions of Afghans from sexual and reproductive health services, and that the continued absence of this support could cause over 1,000 maternal deaths in Afghanistan from 2025 to 2028. US President Donald Trump last month ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance, pending assessment of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign policy, setting alarm bells ringing among aid groups around the world that depend on US funding. Click here to read more (external link).
Rashid Khan breaks all-time record, becomes T20’s highest wicket-taker ever
Rashid Khan
Ariana: Afghanistan’s super-star spin bowler Rashid Khan has notched up yet another achievement – this time he’s become the highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket ever. The 26-year-old Afghan went past Trinidad’s Dwayne Bravo’s tally of 631 wickets when he bowled Dunith Wellalage in the SA20 qualifier 1 against Paarl Royals in South Africa on Tuesday. “It’s a great achievement,” Rashid said after the match. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – February 4, 2025
Taliban threaten to use US arms to thwart attempts to retake them
Zabihullah Mujahid
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 4, 2025
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have warned that the military weapons left behind by the United States in Afghanistan now belong to them as “spoils of war” and will be utilized to defend against any attempts to reclaim them.
The statement marks the first official response from the internationally unrecognized government in Kabul to President Donald Trump’s pledge on the eve of his Jan. 20 inauguration to retrieve U.S. arms from the de facto Islamist Afghan leaders.
“The weapons that America abandoned in Afghanistan, as well as those provided to the former Afghan regime, are now in the possession of the Mujahideen [or Taliban forces] as spoils of war,” claimed Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesperson, while participating in an X space session late on Monday.
“The Afghan people now own these weapons and are utilizing them to defend their independence, sovereignty, and Islamic system. No external force can compel us to surrender these weapons, nor will we accept any demands for their surrender,” Mujahid stated. “We will use these weapons to repel invaders who dare to seize them.”
U.S.-led Western troops were stationed in Afghanistan for nearly two decades to counter terrorist groups and protect the internationally backed government in Kabul at the time. They hastily and chaotically withdrew in August 2021, just days after the then-insurgent Taliban stormed back to power.
A U.S. Department of Defense report in 2022 found that about $7 billion worth of military hardware was left behind in Afghanistan after the military withdrawal was completed. The equipment, including aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, communications equipment, and other materials, was subsequently seized by the Taliban.
Trump stated in his pre-inauguration remarks at a rally in Washington last month that his predecessor, Joe Biden, “gave our military equipment, a big chunk of it, to the enemy.” He went on to warn that future financial assistance to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan would be contingent upon the return of U.S. military arms.
“If we’re going to pay billions of dollars a year, tell them we’re not going to give them the money unless they give back our military equipment,” Trump said then, without elaborating.
Mujahid, while speaking on Monday, rejected Trump’s assertions, saying the Taliban have not received “a single penny” from the U.S. in financial aid since regaining control of the country. He stated that Kabul has neither anticipated nor sought any assistance from Washington.
The Taliban have displayed U.S. military gear in their so-called victory day celebrations since returning to power in Afghanistan.
The U.S. troop exit from Afghanistan stemmed from the February 2020 Doha Agreement that the first Trump administration negotiated with the then-insurgent Taliban. Biden completed and defended the military withdrawal, saying the choice he had was either to follow through on that agreement or be prepared to go back to fighting the Taliban.
Related
US delegation holds talks with Afghanistan’s former leaders in Turkey
Mohaqiq
Khaama: Mohammad Mohaqiq, leader of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, told Voice of America on Tuesday, February 4, that several members of the High Council of Resistance, including himself, met with a delegation sent by the Global Peace Operations Initiative. According to him, the American delegation visited them around two days ago to discuss issues related to Afghanistan. The delegation was sent by the Global Peace Operations Initiative for this purpose. Reports suggested that the group had met with a Pakistani delegation, but Mr. Mohaqiq, in an interview with Voice of America, firmly denied any such meeting between the members of the High Council of Resistance and the Pakistani delegation. Click here to read more (external link).
National Resistance Front Commander Urges Anti-Taliban Unity
Afghanistan International: Hamed Saifi, a commander of the National Resistance Front, has called on anti-Taliban political leaders to put aside “self-interest and divisions” and to “unite.” In a statement on X on Tuesday, Saifi referred to reports of internal conflicts among Taliban leaders. He wrote that focusing on disputes within the Taliban, such as which faction is involved in infighting or who has been “arrested, killed, or injured” among them, is a “futile thought.” According to Saifi, despite internal tensions within the Taliban and the possible sidelining of some officials, ultimately, one faction of the Taliban will continue to rule Afghanistan. He warned that this would bring no positive change for the people and could even worsen their situation. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban leader deploys loyalists to key Kabul locations amid internal rift: Sources
Amu: The Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has deployed forces loyal to him to key strategic locations in Kabul, including the Bala Hissar fortress and Kabul International Airport, according to two sources familiar with the developments. The move, reportedly targeting areas previously under the control of the Haqqani network, highlights the growing rift between Akhundzada’s Kandahar faction and the Haqqani leadership, which has been at the center of the Taliban’s internal power struggles. Click here to read more (external link).