Civil Society Groups Urge US To Resume Afghan Refugee Resettlement Programmes

Dozens of civil society organisations, women’s rights movements, and human rights groups have issued an open letter to the US State Department, urging the immediate resumption of Afghan refugee resettlement programmes.

The letter, signed by 49 organisations including Afghan women’s protest movements and advocacy groups was addressed to the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the State Department, as well as to US senators, members of Congress, and relevant federal agencies.

The signatories called for urgent action to support Afghan refugees, warning that delays in relocation efforts are putting lives at risk.

The organisations expressed serious concern over the growing backlog in processing applications under the Priority 1 (P1), Priority 2 (P2), and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programmes. These channels were specifically designed to support at-risk Afghans who had worked closely with US-funded missions and projects.

The letter emphasised that many of the applicants are women’s rights activists, journalists, human rights defenders, educators, artists, and others facing persecution under the Taliban regime. According to the signatories, these individuals clearly qualify for international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol.

The groups stressed that the United States has a legal, moral, and political obligation to uphold its commitments to these Afghans, many of whom are now stranded in third countries without access to legal protections and are enduring precarious living conditions.

The Trump administration had previously suspended key refugee and immigration pathways and deported some Afghan asylum seekers. Concerns have recently been reignited following a report by Axios, which revealed that the US Department of Homeland Security sent emails to over 200 Afghan refugees in Iowa, instructing them to leave the country immediately.

According to the advocacy group Afghan Partners in Iowa, the recipients of these notices include former soldiers who had fought alongside US forces during the war in Afghanistan.