Afghan Migrants Die In Freezing Conditions At Iran Border

In a letter addressed to the US secretaries of state and homeland security, the lawmakers said the administration had used a shooting by a former Afghan soldier against National Guard personnel to justify sweeping measures targeting Afghan migrants and asylum-seekers.

The lawmakers said policies such as refusing entry to Afghan migrants and denying asylum to former US military partners in Afghanistan were a mistake and risked portraying the United States as an unreliable ally.

“Exploiting this tragedy to sow division and inflame fear will not make America safer,” Democratic members of Congress wrote in the letter.

They said that following the shooting involving National Guard troops in Washington, the Trump administration not only halted the processing of Afghan asylum cases but also began re-examining cases of Afghans who had already been admitted to the United States.

According to the lawmakers, the administration has also barred the entry of Afghans holding Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) who worked with the US government and military in Afghanistan, removing them from exemptions to the president’s travel ban.

The Trump administration recently placed Afghanistan and 14 other countries on a full travel ban list, effectively preventing their citizens from travelling to the United States or applying for asylum. Under President Donald Trump’s latest order, SIV holders were no longer exempt from the ban.

Members of Congress described the policy as a form of collective punishment against Afghan migrants and citizens. They warned that the measures endanger the lives of innocent, law-abiding people, including those who assisted US forces during the war in Afghanistan.

“The horrific actions of one individual should not be used to vilify every individual from Afghanistan who legally seeks to live in the United States,” the lawmakers wrote.

The administration’s actions have heightened fear among Afghan migrants already living in the United States. Immigration lawyers and refugee advocates in the Sacramento area of California, home to the largest Afghan immigrant population, have reported an increase in detentions of Afghans by immigration authorities and the cancellation of asylum-related interviews.

The Associated Press reported that since November 26, at least 24 Afghan migrants mostly in Northern California have been detained. In the past week alone, at least nine Afghan men were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they appeared for routine case status checks.

Hashemi’s family reported in June that she had gone missing. Her husband, Sayed Mohsen Hashemi, told Afghanistan International at the time that she had left home to visit friends and had not returned, adding that her phones were switched off. He later stopped commenting publicly on her situation.

On Wednesday, Hashemi contacted singer and women’s rights activist Ariana Saeed and informed her that she had left the country. According to Hashemi, the decision to leave Afghanistan was personal and was not facilitated by any specific individual or institution.

She did not refer to her reported disappearance and declined to provide details about her circumstances while in Afghanistan.

In an interview with the BBC, Hashemi said she had faced many difficulties over the past six years and had been waiting for an opportunity to leave the country so she could “raise her voice.” She did not elaborate further.

Previously, Ariana Saeed said in a video message that Hashemi had fled her home because of domestic violence and said her husband had spread false information to the media by claiming she had been abducted. Saeed alleged that Hashemi’s husband was attempting to trace her whereabouts through media reports and social media.

Following reports of Hashemi’s disappearance, Taliban officials said they had detained several of her relatives.

Hashemi rose to prominence after reaching the final round of the Afghan Star singing competition, broadcast by the private Tolo TV, where she competed against dozens of male singers.

Dobrindt said the transfer process has been accelerated amid the risk that the refugees could be deported from Pakistan. He told German media that many Afghans with German admission pledges are living in uncertainty and that the government is seeking to complete case reviews and relocate as many as possible before the end of the month.

He added that a small number would likely remain, and their cases would be reviewed next year.

Some of the refugees previously worked with the German government or German organisations in Afghanistan, while others are considered at risk, including journalists and human rights activists.

Pakistan, which has deported millions of Afghans over the past year, has urged Western countries, including Germany, to relocate refugees who have already received admission pledges. Dobrindt said Berlin is in talks with Pakistani authorities regarding deadlines for deportations.

Germany’s new government has not accepted all Afghans awaiting relocation in Pakistan. German media reported last week that the conservative government led by Friedrich Merz rejected 650 Afghans who had previously received admission pledges.

The Merz government had earlier sought to discourage dozens of Afghans with admission pledges in Pakistan from travelling to Germany by offering financial incentives, but only about 60 people reportedly accepted the offer.

Najibullah Shaheen, the acting head of the Taliban embassy in Norway, said the first batch of newly issued passports has already been distributed to applicants.

Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on March 21 that it had accepted Shaheen, a Taliban diplomat, as first secretary at the Afghan embassy in Oslo. The ministry said it issued him a one-year diplomatic residence card.

Shortly after assuming his post, Shaheen changed the embassy’s signage from “Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” to “Embassy of Afghanistan.”

After the collapse of Afghanistan’s previous government and the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, passport issuance was suspended at most Afghan diplomatic and consular missions abroad.

In recent months, several Afghan missions under Taliban control have resumed issuing passports, including embassies in Islamabad, Tehran and New Delhi, as well as a number of consulates in Germany and other countries.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Taliban Ministry of Defence said Fitrat met with media representatives, political analysts and a number of Taliban officials to discuss coordination and strengthen cooperation.

At the meeting, Fitrat said Taliban forces had shown “no hesitation whatsoever” over the past four years in defending and protecting Afghanistan. He said the Taliban army is standing on its own feet and working to modernise its capabilities.

“We are striving to build an army equipped with modern weapons to defend the country’s territory under any circumstances,” Fitrat said. “Our army has proven to the people that anyone who looks at this land with ill intent will face a firm and courageous response, and it has also been proven to neighbouring countries that any aggression against Afghanistan will be met with a several-fold response.”

Fitrat did not name any specific country.

After the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, large quantities of advanced US military equipment were left behind and later taken over by the Taliban. The US Department of Defense has estimated the value of this equipment at more than $7 billion, including military vehicles, advanced weapons, biometric devices and other matériel.

Investigations by Afghanistan International show that over the past four years the Taliban have been involved in more than 150 clashes with Pakistani border forces. The Taliban have also clashed on several occasions with Iranian border guards.