Donald Trump promised that he would intervene to help Afghan refugees who fled their country after the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2021 and who have been detained for years in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
On Truth Social, the president shared an article from Just the News warning about possible handovers of refugees to the Taliban regime by the Emirates.
"I'll try to save them, starting right now", wrote the president, describing the situation as urgent.
A State Department document revealed that, in a meeting on July 10, Salem al-Zaabi, special adviser to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had already informed U.S. officials that two Afghan families had been returned "safely" to Afghanistan at the beginning of that month.
El gobierno de Biden llevó a cabo una desastrosa ejecución en la retirada estadounidense de Afganistán
The Emirati deportation plan
The senior official confessed that his country planned to deport the remaining 25 Afghans before July 20, thus "definitively" closing this chapter. The request included that the United States cooperate in managing public perception to avoid criticism from human rights organizations.
According to al-Zaabi, the families returned voluntarily due to the exhaustion of waiting for a solution. However, two sources familiar with the case contradicted that version, stating that Emirati authorities were forcing the refugees to sign voluntary deportation letters under threat of arrest and forced deportation.
Trump's promise comes at a crucial moment. More than 30 people are sheltered in a humanitarian center in Abu Dhabi where they have lived for years in uncertainty, without a country to receive them and fearing reprisals if they are returned to Taliban Afghanistan.
Many of them are relatives of Afghan military personnel who collaborated with the U.S. government, women, children, and workers who risked their lives during the 20 years of U.S. presence in Afghanistan.
El presidente de una organización no gubernamental celebró la decisión del presidente Trump
Shawn VanDiver, president of the #AfghanEvac group, welcomed the decision and added that Trump has the power to act immediately.
"He must instruct the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to expedite the processes and seek agreements with third countries. We can't leave our war allies behind again," he said.
