Trump pledged to save Afghans; UAE already sent some evacuees back, shows cable

WASHINGTON – Days before US President Donald Trump

said he would help Afghan evacuees

who fled their country and were stuck in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Emirati government had already begun returning them to Afghanistan and informed Washington that it was doing so, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters on July 21.

The UAE, a close security partner of the US, agreed in 2021 to temporarily house several thousand Afghans evacuated from Kabul as the Taliban ousted the US-backed government during the final stages of the

US-led withdrawal

.

Throughout the years, about 17,000 Afghan evacuees have been processed through the Abu Dhabi facility, known as Emirates Humanitarian City. But more than 30 remaining Afghans have been stuck with their fate in limbo.

News outlet Just The News reported on July 21 that UAE officials were preparing to hand over some Afghan refugees to the Taliban.

“I will try to save them, starting right now,” Mr Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on July 21 that linked to an article on the Afghans held in limbo there.

But it may already be too late for some.

In a July 10 meeting with US officials in Abu Dhabi, Mr Salem Al-Zaabi, UAE special adviser to the foreign minister, told the Americans that two families had been “successfully and safely” sent back to Afghanistan in early July, said the cable, which had the same date as the meeting.

Mr Al-Zaabi told the Americans that while the UAE understood the current policy from Washington, it was going to move to “close this chapter for good” and therefore would move to return the remaining 25 individuals by July 20, according to the cable.

He added that the Emirati government would seek assurances from the Taliban that their safety is guaranteed.

It was not immediately clear if the remaining individuals had been sent back or what the circumstances of the two families returned to Afghanistan were.

The cable and the return of the two Afghan families to Afghanistan had not been previously reported.

Mr Trump, based on his Truth Social post, appeared to be out of the loop on the UAE’s plans.

The State Department, the White House and the UAE government did not have immediate comment for this story.

Afghans in Qatar also stuck

Mr Al-Zaabi told the US officials that the two families were returned to Afghanistan in early July “at their request, since they were tired of waiting”, the cable said.

But two sources familiar with the matter disputed that account, saying the UAE government and the Taliban’s Ambassador to the UAE were making Afghan families in the Emirates Humanitarian City choose between signing a “voluntary” deportation letter to Afghanistan and being arrested to be forcefully deported to the country on July 21.

The cable also said Mr Al-Zaabi asked the US to coordinate “perception management” to ensure Washington and Abu Dhabi were aligned on their messaging on the topic as the UAE did not want criticism from non-governmental organisations “due to the inability of the United States to resettle the population in the United States or elsewhere”.

The fate of the more than 30 Afghan evacuees and how the administration handles their cases are crucial for the future of another 1,500 Afghan men, women and children who have been stuck in a similar facility in Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar.

Former US president Joe Biden’s administration, since its chaotic US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, has brought nearly 200,000 Afghans to the US.

Mr Trump, a Republican who promised a far-reaching immigration crackdown, suspended refugee resettlement after he took office in January.

In April, the Trump administration terminated temporary deportation protections for thousands of Afghans in the US.

Democrats have urged Mr Trump to restore temporary protected status for Afghans, saying women and children could face particular harm under the Taliban-led government.

Since seizing power, Afghanistan’s Taliban administration has rolled back hard-fought rights won by Afghan women and girls during two decades of rule by American-backed governments.

It has imposed limits on schooling, work and general independence in daily life.

Refugees include family members of Afghan-American US military personnel, children cleared to reunite with their parents, relatives of Afghans already admitted, and tens of thousands of Afghans who worked for the US government during the 20-year war.

Advocacy group #AfghanEvac urged Mr Trump to follow up on his post with action.

“That means working to immediately secure protections and departures for the Afghans at the Emirates Humanitarian City in (the) UAE and Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar and ensuring they are not deported back into the hands of the Taliban,” the group said in a statement. REUTERS