JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Five years ago this week, the U.S. war in Afghanistan ended with the evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Kabul and desperate scenes of Afghans trying to escape the Taliban's return. Some made it to the United States, but many others are still in limbo, including more than a thousand who were airlifted to a U.S. base in Qatar. Even some Afghan family members of active-duty U.S. troops have been stuck there with no clear future as war has broken out in the Gulf. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports.
QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Since his second term began, President Trump has been dismantling the pathways for immigration, including for more than a thousand Afghan war refugees at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar. In February, war broke out between Iran and the U.S., with missiles passing overhead and even crashing near the camp.
SEAN JAMSHIDI: So they didn't get hit, but there was fragments that fell through that the - it actually went through their building, hit the side of the bed. The individuals weren't in the room, thankfully.
LAWRENCE: Sean Jamshidi's older brother and sister and their kids have been stuck at that camp for more than a year. Jamshidi moved to the U.S. as a child with his parents from Afghanistan in 2000. When he was old enough, he joined the Marines and served 10 years. Jamshidi's brother had stayed behind in Afghanistan, and during those years, he volunteered to work alongside U.S. forces.
JAMSHIDI: The fact that he's alive today is a miracle because there was actually many close calls. And it's also dangerous if they find out that you are working for - if the Taliban finds out you're working for the U.S. government in any shape, way or form.
LAWRENCE: Afghans who risked their lives to serve alongside American troops were promised a visa to the U.S. in return, but Jamshidi's brother is still waiting for that visa. It's a cause taken up by veterans of the war in Afghanistan, including Republican Congressman Don Bacon, a retired brigadier general. He's broken with the Trump administration on this issue and cosponsored a bill in Congress to protect Afghans already in the U.S. from deportation.
DON BACON: We have a moral obligation to those we have served with in Afghanistan, who serve by our side, helping us out. We had a promise, and a promises made should be promises kept. Absolutely.
LAWRENCE: In response to an email from NPR, the State Department replied that negotiations continue about where the Afghans could be resettled, but wouldn't offer details. The email said, quote, "a third country is a positive resolution that provides safety for these remaining people to start a new life outside Afghanistan while upholding the safety and security of the American people."
Sean Jamshidi says one rumor was that the Afghans there would be sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo - a country at war - where Jamshidi served as a Marine. He says his brother has started to lose hope for himself and his children.
JAMSHIDI: He's got daughters who are studying. One of his daughters is studying to become a doctor - the oldest one - but she can't do that anymore because of the current situation.
LAWRENCE: Jamshidi himself is trying to stay positive that his siblings will make it somewhere safe, somewhere they can visit their mother who's in poor health. And he's also worried as a Marine, an American, who knows how important honor and trust are.
JAMSHIDI: And if we break that barrier and break the trust with them that we - you know, we gave them, like, a promise, and if we don't keep it, then other people around the world will not trust us. And unfortunately, that's kind of what - we're kind of heading to, where people are not trusting us anymore because of the promises that we keep breaking.
LAWRENCE: Quil Lawrence, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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