‘We were friends of the US’: Fearful Afghans face Trump travel ban

1 hour ago Share Save Mallory Moench and Flora Drury BBC News Share Save

Getty Images

Ahmad has been hiding in Afghanistan for years. The former Afghan military employee is living in fear of being found by the Taliban, which seized power in 2021 as US forces withdrew from the Central Asian nation. As a result, Ahmad is unable to get a job or access medical care, relying on donations from friends outside the country to survive. His son, 12, is unable to go to school. If they are found, Ahmad says, the Taliban “will remove” him. His hope had been refugee resettlement in the US, but – with just a medical check to complete – the process was put on pause by the Trump administration. Still, he hoped. Then, on Thursday he woke to the news that US President Donald Trump had issued a new order banning the entry of Afghan passport holders to the US, citing national security threats. “I am not a threat to the United States,” Ahmad told the BBC. The BBC is not using his real name because of concerns about his safety. “We were friends of the United States,” he added.

Trump’s sweeping travel ban came into force on Monday, blocking people from Afghanistan and 11 other countries, including seven from Africa, as well as countries like Haiti and Yemen, from entering the US. There are partial bans on seven other countries. According to the ban, Afghanistan was included because the Taliban are considered by the US government to be a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, and the country does not have “a competent or co-operative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents”, or “appropriate screening and vetting measures”. It also notes a relatively high rate of people overstaying their visas. The Trump administration has, however, recently dropped temporary protected status for more than 9,000 Afghans living in the US, arguing its assessments showed the security and economic situation in Afghanistan had improved. But those living in Afghanistan are faced with a series of restrictions brought in by the Taliban government in line with its strict interpretation of Sharia law. The ones affecting women – including the enforcement of head coverings, restrictions on travel and education over the age of 12 – amount to a “gender apartheid”, according to the United Nations. The Taliban says it respects the rights of women in line with Sharia and Afghan culture. A different UN report from 2023 found there were credible reports that hundreds of former government officials and armed forces members had been killed since the group returned to power in 2021, despite a general amnesty. The Taliban has previously said all Afghans could “live in the country without any fear” – and those abroad should come back and help rebuild the country. “There is a general amnesty,” Mohammad Suhail Shaheen, Taliban ambassador to Qatar, told the BBC earlier this year. “Countrywide security is prevalent in Afghanistan. Every citizen and traveller can travel to any corner of the country without any obstacles or any difficulties.” There are exceptions to Trump’s ban – including for Afghans who worked directly with the US military before the Taliban back took control of the country in 2021. But Ahmad, whose application for resettlement was backed by a former US service member, does not qualify for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) because he did not work directly for the US. And he is far from the only one.

Some 200,000 Afghans have been resettled since the US military’s chaotic withdrawal, but there are still tens of thousands more waiting for a decision. Many have fled across the border to neighbouring Pakistan to wait for a decision to be made on their application. Samira, who spoke to the BBC’s Afghan Service, is currently in Pakistan – which has been expelling tens of thousands of Afghans in recent months. If the path to the US is closed to her, she is not sure what to do next. “Returning to Afghanistan is not an option for us – it would be incredibly challenging,” she said. “Our children have already lost years of education, and we have no hope of safely going back.”

Watch: President Trump announces travel ban from “high-risk regions”

More than 8,300 family members of US citizens are ready for an interview in Afghanistan, with more than 11,400 others awaiting family reunification, according to US Department of State data shared by AfghanEvac. Mojo, who asked to be identified by his nickname, is one of the 200,000 Afghans who have already reached the US, because he worked directly for the US military. He is now a US citizen. His sister, however, remains in Afghanistan where she and her husband are “living in a hide and seek game”, he says. They change their address and city every couple months in order to stay safe. They passed the background and medical checks for refugee resettlement, but like the others who spoke to the BBC, they became trapped when the process was paused in January. This latest order has made Mojo, who lives in Houston, Texas, and the rest of his family lose “all our hope completely” . “I wish that he would change his mind, make some exception, change the rules or take his order back and let people have a peaceful life,” he said.