Afghans awaiting US resettlement sent back to the land they fled

Afghans, who had fled from their country when the Taliban took over, have been facing deportation after being promised a fresh start in the United States.

Despite working in the US and being assured that they were eligible for resettlement, some Afghans have been forcibly deported back to Afghanistan from Pakistan, reports CNN.

One man revealed that he is now living in hiding in Kabul after he was dropped at the Afghan border by Pakistani police this summer. "They did not hand us over to the (Taliban) Afghan border forces," he said.

"They just released us on the border and told us to go back to Afghanistan. It was me, my four kids and my wife deported together."

Also speaking from hiding in Kabul, another deported Afghan said, "So this is very, very dangerous, and it is very tough… How many people have been killed, had been tortured, have been disappeared?" The man, a former employee of a US contractor, said the Taliban "will punish me, they will put me in jail. Maybe they will kill me? I'm sure they will." He added, "still, we believe that the USA will help us. We believe we didn't lose our hope still."

According to reports, thousands fled the Taliban after the 15 August 2021 fall of Kabul to the hard-line group. More than 124,000 Afghans were airlifted out of the country in a huge US-led operation.

Meanwhile, many also fled to Pakistan with the US instructing them to wait in a third country for their visa applications to the US to be processed, says CNN.

According to State Department figures, approximately 90,000 Afghans have since been resettled in the US. However, many others have been caught in the backlog of so-called Afghan Priority 2 (P-2) or Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) applications waiting to be processed.

The most acute situation is faced by those stuck in Pakistan due to recent political instability which led to a crackdown against migrants.

Several others residing in Pakistan revealed that they are harassed by Pakistani police and received threats of deportation if they did not pay fines or bribes, says CNN.

Recently, two young Afghan men have taken their own lives in Islamabad since June while waiting for their US P-2 visas. Aafaq shared that one of them, aged 25, had suffered "mental pressure and economic pressure and an unclear future."

One, who worked with the US military told CNN: "They were asking for a visa. There were a lot of policemen, they came into the house without clear information. And they took me out of (my) home and they just put (me) in the van. My kids, they were very much harassed. They were crying, they were asking for help."

He also described how he once saved his American colleagues during a protest, and had commendation letters denoting his service. "I'm disappointed because (of) the way that I served the Americans in Afghanistan. I was expecting them to welcome me there sooner. It seems like I have no future at all."

The US State Department told CNN in a statement that the Biden administration "continues to demonstrate its commitment to the brave Afghans" who worked with the US. It added that its "processing capacity in Pakistan remains limited, but (staff) are actively working to expand it."

The statement also urged "Afghanistan's neighbors" to "keep their borders open" and "uphold their obligations" when it comes to asylum seekers.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry declined to comment.