While U.S. President Donald Trump is considering the option of transferring Afghan refugees to Congo, the Taliban have claimed that security has been restored in the country and that refugees stranded in Qatar can return.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, said in a statement on Saturday, April 25, that the group assures other countries through a specific mechanism that there is “no security threat to anyone.”
The statement claims: “No one is forced to leave the country due to security issues.”
The Taliban made this claim after The New York Times previously reported that Donald Trump intended to transfer 1,100 Afghan refugees who were U.S. allies to Afghanistan or Congo.
Trump’s decision has faced backlash from U.S. senators, who have condemned it.
The refugees, who are in Qatar awaiting resettlement in the United States, are now caught between the choice of Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
After the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, many citizens left the country due to security concerns.
According to a United Nations report, former military personnel and officials of the previous government have, after returning from Iran and Pakistan to Afghanistan, been subjected to persecution, arrest, and in some cases even killed.
