Left in limbo, Afghans who served with U.S. forces fear Trump could send them back to the Taliban [View all]

Source: NBC News

March 29, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT


On a former U.S. military base in Qatar, Afghans who supported the United States in its 20-year war against the Taliban have been left in limbo, living in windowless shipping containers far from the new lives they were once promised in the U.S.

Now, the Trump administration is presenting them with a stark choice: move to an unspecified third country or return to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where they potentially face persecution, imprisonment or death.

Camp As Sayliyah, located outside Doha, hosts more than 1,100 Afghan men, women and children, most of whom have been approved for U.S. resettlement after extensive vetting. Instead, the State Department says everyone will be removed from the camp by March 31, making it the latest casualty in the Trump administration’s efforts to block virtually all paths to the U.S. for Afghan allies.

The camp is the only Afghan refugee site run directly by the U.S. government, with its residents among thousands of people stranded across Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere since Trump returned to office and halted all refugee resettlement. Days before the State Department’s self-imposed deadline, they say they have been given almost no information about what will happen to them next.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/afghanistan/left-limbo-afghans-served-us-forces-fear-trump-send-back-taliban-rcna246728