ISLAMABAD -- Afghan journalist Mahmood Kochai and his family had plane tickets to the United States, where they hoped to make a fresh start after spending more than three years in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
But their travel plans were canceled after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration announced that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) would be suspended for at least three months starting on January 27.
Kochai is among the thousands of Afghans who had been approved to resettle in the United States. Once the family of five -- Kochai, his wife, their daughter, son, and daughter-in-law -- were cleared to take their flights, he resigned from his job with the Afghanistan International news channel.
Their temporary visas in Pakistan were to expire on February 5, and they say they now have no place to go.
"Everything is going from bad to worse," Kochai told RFE/RL on February 4. "Afghan refugees in Pakistan are caught between a rock and a hard place: The [Pakistani] police are chasing us out of their country; it's not safe for us to return to Afghanistan, and we cannot go to other countries."
Adding to the Afghan refugees' plight, Pakistan has decided to deport thousands of Afghan refugees awaiting resettlement in the West if the prospective host countries don't relocate them by March 31, a source close to the government told RFE/RL.
The decision was made at a cabinet meeting on January 30, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. The Voice of America and the Associated Press also reported on the decision, citing unnamed sources.
If implemented, the decision will affect Afghans in Pakistan who are seeking asylum in third countries because of their affiliation with U.S. and NATO forces and other Western and international organizations.
Tens of thousands of at-risk Afghans left for neighboring Pakistan fearing retribution after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan recently said that nearly 80,000 Afghan refugees have left Pakistan to be resettled in various countries, while about 40,000 are still in Pakistan.
That includes some 15,000 Afghans waiting to be approved for resettlement to the United States.
Left In Limbo
Journalist Ezzatullah Mahjur is waiting for a visa through the Special Visa Program (SIV) that has been available for Afghans who worked with the U.S. military as translators between the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 and the withdrawal in 2021.
He is hopeful the refugee resettlement process will eventually resume.
"Since the suspension of flights, some people who have gotten visas through the SIV have tried to reach the United States at their own expense. But some of them were turned back from Dubai, and I know at least one person who was turned away from a Washington airport," Mahjur told RFE/RL on February 4.
It is not clear if the Trump administration will resume the resettlement program.
In his January 20 order, Trump said the secretaries of homeland security and state must submit a report every 90 days "regarding whether resumption of entry of refugees into the United States under the USRAP would be in the interests of the United States."
Beside those waiting for relocation to the West, Pakistan also hosts about 1.45 million Afghan citizens registered as refugees with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Their stay in Pakistan has been extended until June.
Some 800,000 Afghans have either been deported or returned voluntarily to their home county since Pakistan began a major crackdown on refugees in November 2023.
Pakistan continues to track down and deport Afghans who are neither registered with the UNHCR nor awaiting resettlement to a third country.
