Afghan refugees being held at a camp in Qatar have been told it will be kept open for another nine months after a deadline for its closure passed, but they face continuing uncertainty over their fate amid an ongoing bar on entry to the United States.
The As-Sayliyah camp, a former US Army base, houses some 1,100 Afghans who have been stuck in limbo since immigration requests relating to Afghanistan were halted by a presidential executive order in November 2025. It was due to close on September 30.
"We had a meeting with the camp authorities. In that meeting, the camp officials said that the camp has only been extended for nine months. It will remain open until around June. That is all they said; they did not say anything else," a man who did not wish to be identified told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on October 1.
Earlier, some US media reported that the State Department had decided on a nine-month extension, but officials have not confirmed this timeline publicly.
"The State Department continues to work toward a positive resolution that provides safety for these remaining people to start a new life outside of Afghanistan while upholding the safety and security of the American people," a spokesman told RFE/RL.
The spokesman added that work was continuing on voluntary resettlement arrangements for the camp inmates, many of whom worked for American forces during the US-led international military presence in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021. The others are primarily their family members.
"Psychologically, it is very difficult. Waiting is very hard. I myself am very exhausted," another inmate, who also wished to remain anonymous, told RFE/RL. "When a person is forced into a situation and has no choice, he just has to endure it and live through it. Our fate is still unknown. But still, we keep struggling and hoping that eventually a proper place and a solution will be found for us."
Physical conditions at the camp are not said to be an issue. But many people there have told RFE/RL of the frustration and emotional strain of lives put on hold indefinitely. Many residents at the camp have also been alarmed by talk of relocating them to third countries such as Rwanda or the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Bipartisan Letter
The situation of the people at the camp has been repeatedly raised by US lawmakers from both the Republican and Democrat parties, most recently in an open letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed by a bipartisan group of 22 representatives from both chambers of Congress on September 29.
Noting that two Afghan nationals were admitted to the United States on September 22 under an exception to current US immigration policy, it says some "3,000 immediate family members of US service members and veterans remain stranded overseas," including some 150 at As-Sayliyah, "alongside more than 1,000 Afghan allies and family members who were vetted by the US government and flown there on US government aircraft."
The letter urges Rubio to "prioritize the immediate family members of US service members and veterans for exemption determinations and refugee processing, beginning with those at Camp As-Sayliyah."
