Hundreds of Afghan families who aided the US military and fled the Taliban now find themselves stranded in a former US military base in Qatar, caught in bureaucratic limbo with no clear path forward. The Wall Street Journal tells their story through the lens of Mohammed Ibrahim, who spent more than a decade providing transportation services to the US military in Afghanistan—a history that made him a possible target for the Taliban, who in the summer of 2021 kidnapped and killed a brother-in-law he worked with. After hiding from the Taliban for years, Ibrahim thought he had finally found safety when he and his family were evacuated to Camp As Sayliyah in January 2025.
But nearly a year later, he and about 1,300 other Afghans remain confined to the facility, their futures stalled by shifting US immigration policies. The camp, housed in converted hangars in a desert so hot no one strays outdoors, is the only location where the US has direct custody of Afghan evacuees, per the Journal. Ibrahim arrived just four days before President Trump took office. He had been expecting refugee paperwork from the US, but the Trump administration's clampdown halted the process.
Now, with avenues to America mostly closed and key relocation officials let go, those stranded at Camp As Sayliyah worry that the US might eventually abandon them to an uncertain fate. In the meantime, while there is some schooling available for the kids, there is no work or activities for the adults. Most people spend their days in a "sort of stupor," per the Journal. Still, "If I go back to Afghanistan now, they will call me a spy," Ibrahim says. "I'd rather die in this camp than die by Taliban hands." (Read the full story.)
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