U.S. Eyes DR Congo Relocation for 1,100 US-Backed Afghans
Media cited advocacy groups and officials Wednesday, reporting that Shawn VanDiver, head of #AfghanEvac, revealed that approximately 1,100 Afghans — among them interpreters and their families — are currently held at a US-operated facility in Doha and face a stark choice: relocation to Congo or forced return to Afghanistan.
The story was first broken by The New York Times.
The US State Department acknowledged it is exploring "voluntary resettlement" alternatives but declined to provide specifics, characterizing a third-country relocation as a "positive resolution" — language critics say obscures the gravity of the situation.
VanDiver pushed back sharply, cautioning that the plan effectively exposes vulnerable Afghans to renewed danger. "This is not them trying to resettle 1,100 Afghans. This is them trying to send 1,100 Afghans back to Afghanistan… using the Democratic Republic of Congo as the cover that lets them do it," he said.
The proposed destination country is itself deep in crisis. The UN Refugee Agency has documented a worsening displacement emergency in Congo, where millions have been uprooted by years of relentless armed conflict — making it one of the most severe humanitarian disasters on the planet.
VanDiver was unsparing in his assessment of the logic behind the proposal. "You do not solve the world's No. 1 refugee crisis by dumping it into the world's No. 2 refugee crisis," he said.
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