Noem's claim that Afghan refugees can safely return to their Taliban-ruled homeland is 'just absurd,' advocates say [View all]
Source: NBC News
May 14, 2025, 5:00 AM EDT
The Trump administration says Afghan refugees can safely return to Afghanistan despite warnings from rights groups and lawmakers that Afghans who worked for the U.S. military face the threat of persecution, imprisonment and even execution by the Taliban regime.
The Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday it had stripped legal protections for thousands of Afghans in the U.S., saying that the security and economic situation in Afghanistan no longer justified granting them temporary protected status, or TPS. “We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer” prevents Afghans from returning to their home country, she said.
DHS officials had previously signaled plans to cancel temporary protected status for Afghans but did not formally rescind it until Monday. Lawmakers and rights groups said the Trump administration’s decision would put thousands of Afghans’ lives at risk and betray partners who had risked their lives to work for the U.S. military during America’s 20-year war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“It’s just absurd and divorced from reality to claim that Afghan refugees can safely return to Afghanistan,” said Eleanor Acer, senior director for global humanitarian protection for the nonprofit Human Rights First. “Many Afghans would face dire risks of persecution if they are forced back into the hands of the Taliban,” Acer said. “Journalists, human rights advocates, religious minorities, women’s rights defenders and people who worked with the U.S. military and government are all in danger of Taliban persecution or retaliation if they are forced back to Afghanistan.”
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/noems-claim-afghan-refugees-can-safely-return-taliban-ruled-homeland-j-rcna206665
= new reply since forum marked as read