U.S. considers relocating Afghan evacuees to Democratic Republic of Congo amid backlash
Washington is weighing a plan to move roughly 1,100 Afghan evacuees from a former U.S. base in Qatar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to AfghanEvac, an advocacy coalition. The evacuees—interpreters, former Afghan commandos, and relatives...
Washington is weighing a plan to move roughly 1,100 Afghan evacuees from a former U.S. base in Qatar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to AfghanEvac, an advocacy coalition. The evacuees—interpreters, former Afghan commandos, and relatives of personnel tied to the United States—were airlifted out after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
AfghanEvac has sharply criticized the idea, alleging that U.S. officials intend to steer the group back toward Taliban-ruled Afghanistan by trying to “manufacture a refusal” through a Congo transfer. The proposed destination is already grappling with one of the world’s largest displacement crises, with some 6.9 million people uprooted inside the country, UN figures show, amid intense fighting in the east between government forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
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The State Department would not confirm whether Congo is under consideration but said the United States is exploring “voluntary resettlement” from the As Sayliyah camp in Qatar.