'Abandoned': Afghan women waiting for visas feel betrayed by US travel ban

Islamabad/Kabul: Fatima, a 57-year-old Afghan women's rights defender waiting in limbo in Pakistan for her US visa to be processed, had her dreams shattered overnight after President Donald Trump included Afghans among those banned from entering the US.

She worked for decades for US-funded projects in Central Afghanistan and now risks being pushed back to her home country, where she fears for her safety and her teenage daughter is unable to attend school.

"Unfortunately, the decisions made by President Trump turned all the hopes and beliefs of us into ashes," she told Reuters, asking that only her first name be published for security reasons.

Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning nationals of 12 countries, including Afghanistan, from entering the United States, saying the move was needed to protect against "foreign terrorists" and other security threats.

"We are not al-Qaeda, we are the ones who fought back, we are the ones who gave our youth, our strength, our physical energy, our voices, everything we had, for the dream of a peaceful nation, for a country where we could simply breathe, we stood beside NATO forces," said Fatima.

"And today, to be abandoned by America is not only tragic, it is devastating, It is a source of deep despair," she added.

Help pledged for allies

In the chaotic withdrawal of US-led foreign troops as Taliban forces seized Kabul in 2021, Western countries vowed to help, especially those Afghans who had worked for them or on projects they backed. But many have been disappointed.

Then-President Joe Biden pledged to help "Afghan allies" and introduced the P-2 programme for admission as refugees for Afghans who met certain criteria, including having worked for US organisations and media.

The main refugee advocate agency this year estimated that between 10,000-15,000 Afghans were waiting in Pakistan for their visas to be processed, though that included applicants to the Special Immigration Visa (SIV) program for those who directly assisted the US military and government, which was exempted from this week's order.

Fatima said she had hoped never to leave her country but as the prominent head of a women's rights group she felt she had no choice after the Taliban returned to power.

The US government instructed her to travel to a third country for processing and like many, her only option was neighbouring Pakistan where she arrived in 2023. She finally received notice that she should send her family's passports to prepare for a flight in January.

But a decision that month by President Trump to halt refugee processing threw that into disarray and Fatima has not heard from US authorities since.

In the meantime, Pakistan began once again ramping up a repatriation drive that began in 2023, leaving many in the pipeline for US processing fearful of even leaving the house in case they were stopped by police.

A spokesperson for Pakistan's foreign office did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday on how it would handle the Afghans in the pipeline for the US The Taliban-run foreign ministry did not immediately respond to request for comment on Trump's executive order.

The Taliban, which has barred women from travelling without a male guardian and girls from high school, says it respects women's rights in accordance with its interpretation of Islamic law. It has said that its administration is not targeting former foes with violence and it will investigate any suspected cases.

Mahbouba Seraj, a prominent Kabul-based women's rights advocate, said the new US decision was a huge blow to women's rights defenders and other vulnerable groups.

"This is absolutely terrible because a whole lot of those... people were waiting, they have all of their paperwork done, they are completely vetted, they are all ready to come to the US, they have sold their houses, they have no life in Afghanistan and they are all waiting," she said. "Now this is what happens."