By Joseph Lord
Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump on Sunday pledged that the United States would work to help Afghans who have been in the United Arab Emirates since the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, who are now reportedly facing repatriation to the Taliban-controlled nation.
In a post on Truth Social, including a link to a Just the News report about the status of these Afghans, Trump wrote, “I will try to save them, starting right now.”
That report claimed that the UAE was on track to send some of the Afghans — who have now been in the Gulf State for four years — back to the Taliban. This report has not been independently verified.
The UAE initially agreed to take thousands of Afghan refugees from Kabul, the country’s capital, in 2021. That followed the rapid collapse of the U.S.-backed democratic government.
The chaotic withdrawal under President Joe Biden led to the displacement of thousands of Afghans who had backed the U.S.-supported government — while thousands of Americans and U.S. allies were left in the country to face the Taliban alone.
In the wake of the withdrawal, nearly 200,000 Afghans were brought to the United States, while others were directed to nearby nations like the UAE for refuge. While the number of Afghans in the UAE is believed to be in the thousands, it’s unclear how many are currently living in the country.
In 2022, at the request of the United States, Canada agreed to resettle around 1,000 of these Afghans within its borders.
Many Afghan refugees have also faced repatriation. Iran and Pakistan have returned nearly 2 million Afghans back to their war-torn country. Germany, meanwhile, repatriated 81 Afghans last week.
Since taking office, Trump has taken steps to reduce the population of refugees in the United States, including Afghan refugees.
In January, Trump signed an executive order suspending refugee resettlement to the United States. In April, the administration ended temporary deportation protections for thousands of Afghans in the United States, part of an initiative to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.
Democrats have called on Trump to reverse this policy, citing the harms that Afghan refugees — who include family members of Afghan-American U.S. military personnel, children reuniting with their parents, relatives of Afghans already admitted to the United States, and tens of thousands of collaborators who assisted the United States across the 20-year conflict — could face if returned to the Taliban.
In a statement, AfghanEvac advocacy group president Shawn VanDiver praised Trump’s promise, calling it a “welcome surprise to the thousands of Afghans who risked their lives alongside U.S. forces and have since been stranded in legal and diplomatic limbo.”
“We urge President Trump to follow through on this commitment — not just with a Truth Social post, but with action,” VanDiver added, urging the administration to help the “tens of thousands of U.S.-affiliated Afghans … across the globe” who are in danger of being returned to the Taliban.
“President Trump has the authority to do the right thing. He should instruct DHS and the Department of State to expedite processing, push for third-country partnerships, and ensure that we never again leave our wartime allies behind,” VanDiver said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
