Planned Deportation of Dozens of Afghans Linked to US Forces Sparks Backlash

DID Press: Dozens of Afghan migrants in the United States, including relatives of people who worked alongside US forces during the American military mission in Afghanistan, are expected to be deported early next week, prompting concern among families, immigration advocates and some US lawmakers.

ABC News, citing lawyers, migrant-support organizations and families of detainees, reported that a court document concerning one Afghan migrant indicates the deportation flight is scheduled to travel first to Pakistan next week, before those being deported are transferred to Afghanistan.

According to the report, hundreds of Afghan migrants are currently being held in detention facilities operated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Louisiana, a state from which many deportation flights depart.Charlotte Moyle, the wife of one detained Afghan migrant, said her husband had been transferred recently to an immigration detention centre in Louisiana after spending more than a year in detention in Pennsylvania.

She said he had been informed that he could be deported from the United States early next week.Sean VanDiver, founder and president of AfghanEvac, a non-profit organization that supports Afghans evacuated following the US military withdrawal, said families of those detained were deeply concerned about the fate of their loved ones.“Anyone who is from Afghanistan is at risk if returned to that country,” he said.

Families are particularly concerned that those deported could face torture, persecution and harassment by the Taliban after being transferred to Afghanistan.Scott Peters, a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives and a longtime advocate for Afghan refugees, also criticized the reported plan.“Afghans and their families who stood alongside US forces are being secretly put on planes bound for Pakistan, where they will almost certainly be sent to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan,” he said.

Peters described the decision as “absolute cruelty” and called for it to be reversed.“If the current administration carries out this decision, we will be putting our vulnerable allies in the face of deadly danger. This decision must be reversed,” he added.