Afghans in Albania face uncertainty as Trump suspends refugee program
Published on 28/01/2025
US President Donald Trump has suspended a policy that would have allowed Afghan refugees who fulfill certain criteria to resettle in the US.
In Albania, thousands of Afghans who fled their country to escape the Taliban takeover are facing uncertainty as they wait for US visa approval.
Amid the US military's withdrawal from Afghanistan and increased Taliban violence, the United States under President Biden widened the scope of at-risk Afghan citizens eligible for refugee status in the US.
Employees and former employees of US-based news organisations were included, as well as US-based aid and development agencies and other relief groups that receive US funding. Employees and former employees of the US government and the NATO military operation who didn’t meet the criteria for a dedicated program for such workers were also covered.
However, the move came with a major caveat that severely limited the number of people who could benefit: applicants had to leave Afghanistan and begin the adjudication process, which could take 12-14 months in a third country. The US did not intend to support their departures or stays there.
More than 3,200 Afghans, many of whom had qualified for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), are staying in Albania. Once there, they were interviewed and asked to provide the necessary documentation to proceed with their applications.
But in his first days in office, President Trump's administration announced the US Refugee Admissions Programme would be suspended from 27 January for at least three months. During that period, the White House said the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the Secretary of State will submit a report to the president on whether the resumption of the programme is in the interest of the US.
Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before 27 January have had their travel plans cancelled by the Trump administration. Among those affected are the more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to resettle in the US. That number includes those who worked alongside American soldiers during the war as well as family members of active-duty US military personnel.
Hope for the American dream
Many Afghan refugees in Albania still hope Washington will fulfil its promise to take them in, away from the Taliban’s oppressive regime.
Despite initial promises of more moderate rule, the Taliban soon began enforcing restrictions on women and girls, barring them from public spaces and most jobs as well as banning education for girls beyond the sixth grade.
In Shengjin, a town on the Adriatic coast about 70 kilometres northwest of the Albanian capital of Tirana, hundreds of Afghans were given temporary shelter after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. at the time, US and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal after two decades of war, as the US-backed Afghan government and military crumbled.
“I want the government of America, the president, to have a good feeling about refugees," said Hasibullah.
"Go to America and work there and make a little money or help our family to not live in a dangerous area," he added.