Trump says he will help Afghans stuck in UAE
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US President Donald Trump suspended refugee resettlement after he took office in January 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Donald Trump pledged to help Afghans detained in the UAE following the US withdrawal and Taliban takeover in 2021.
- The UAE may hand some Afghan refugees to the Taliban, according to Just The News. Canada resettled 1,000 Afghans from the UAE in 2022.
- Advocates urge Trump to instruct DHS and the State Department to expedite processing and secure third-country partnerships for Afghans.
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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said on July 20 he would help Afghans detained in the United Arab Emirates for years after fleeing their country when the United States pulled out and the Taliban took power.
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.
“I will try to save them, starting right now,” Mr Trump said, in a post on Truth Social that linked to an article on the Afghans held in limbo there.
Mr Trump cited news website Just The News as saying that UAE officials were preparing to hand over some Afghan refugees to the Taliban.
Reuters has not confirmed the report.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The UAE, a close security partner of the United States, 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.
Nearly 200,000 Afghans were brought to the US by former president Joe Biden’s administration since the chaotic US troop withdrawal from Kabul.
Canada agreed in 2022 to resettle about 1,000 of the Afghans still held in the UAE after a US request. It is unclear how many remain in the Gulf country.
Some countries have forced Afghan refugees to return to Afghanistan. Nearly two million Afghans were returned from Iran and Pakistan in the past seven months, the United Nations said last week.
Germany on July 18 deported 81 Afghan men to Afghanistan amid a tightening of refugee admissions. Some other European countries are pushing to tighten asylum rules in the bloc.
In the United States, 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 in place since 2021.
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.
Mr Shawn VanDiver, president of the #AfghanEvac advocacy group, urged Mr Trump to follow up on his post with action.
“President Trump has the authority to do the right thing. He should instruct DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and the Department of State to expedite processing, push for third-country partnerships, and ensure that we never again leave our wartime allies behind,” he said in a statement. REUTERS
