Amna Nawaz:
Well, as we have been reporting, millions in the Middle East have been caught in the crosshairs of Iran’s ballistic missile attacks. That includes more than 1,000 Afghan refugees who thought they were headed to the U.S. before the Trump administration froze the refugee program last year.
Geoff Bennett:
Since then, they have been stranded on an unused military base in Qatar. More than half of them are women and children. Now, having fled one war, they’re trapped in another.
Our special correspondent, Leila Molana-Allen, reports from Qatar.
(Sirens blaring)
Leila Molana-Allen:
Wailing sirens signal another incoming volley of missiles launched by Iran on the small Gulf nation of Qatar. My phone lights up with the trembling voice of a young teenager.
Teenager (through interpreter):
We were eating dinner when suddenly we heard missiles exploding above our camp. I’m terrified right now. I’m shaking. My heart’s beating so fast. I don’t know what to do.
Leila Molana-Allen:
The family has nowhere to run or hide. They’re trapped between Iran and the U.S. base that’s become the principal target of Iran’s attacks here.
Teenager (through interpreter):
My brother, he was outside. He was playing. My mom went to get him, but he was screaming. He said he saw missiles exploding.
Leila Molana-Allen:
At Camp As Sayliyah, near the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. base in the Middle East, 1,100 Afghan refugees have languished for more than a year, until last week. Their main concern was frustration as they waited to start the new lives they were promised in the United States.
Now trapped in the middle of America’s war with Iran, they’re just praying they will get out alive.
Teenager (through interpreter):
Since the start of the war until now, everyone’s been living in confusion, stress and fear, children asking their mother’s: “Mom, am I going to die now?”
Leila Molana-Allen:
The camp’s occupants have begged State Department staff to evacuate them, but they have been told they’re safe and can’t be moved elsewhere for now. A former military camp in the Qatari desert, As Sayliyah was meant to be a brief stop for Afghans being processed for U.S. visas after the United States pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, which left Afghans who’d helped U.S. forces throughout the 21-year war in danger of Taliban reprisals.
But, in January last year, President Trump brought refugee processing to a halt. Since then, As Sayliyah’s residents, 700 of whom have already been fully vetted and approved, have been trapped here in limbo. The State Department confirmed it plans to close the camp by the end of March, but hasn’t disclosed where it will move the refugees.
The “News Hour” spoke with multiple residents in the camp. We’re protecting their identities because they say State Department staff have threatened to block phone and Internet access and even deport them if they speak out about their plight.
Calling in secret late at night, one young man told us they’ve spent days hiding inside the temporary containing units where they sleep, which provide little protection from a missile strike.
Man (through interpreter):
It’s like a prison. We can’t go outside. And we don’t have any shelter. Last night, Iran sent some drones behind the camp. They defended them with missiles from Al Udeid. We saw it. It was very scary.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Last week, he says one missile section fell on the bedroom of several young children.
Man (through interpreter):
They were in the cafeteria. If the family were in the bedroom, I don’t think they would have survived.
Leila Molana-Allen:
How do you feel that Americans are being evacuated and you can’t get to safety?
Man (through interpreter):
We feel like we’ve been forgotten. And now the secretary of state is advising the citizens of the United States to leave the Gulf region. And what about us? You brought us here. Now what can we do?
Leila Molana-Allen:
And there are a lot of kids in the camp. Tell me what’s happening with them.
Man (through interpreter):
I have a sister. I have brothers. They’re always scared. All night, they don’t sleep. They’re crying. They ask, who will help us. We tell them, God will help us. But no one here wants to help us.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Residents told the “News Hour” the panic is so intense that pregnant mothers in the camp fear they’ll suffer miscarriages. Some children have stopped eating. Several families tried to escape to safety and were turned back by camp guards. Others report being offered financial assistance if they agree to return to Afghanistan voluntarily.
Already traumatized by the war back home and now reliving what they hoped they’d escaped, their mental and physical health is fast deteriorating.
Shawn VanDiver, Founder, AfghanEvac:
We’re going to talk about a few things we talked about yesterday. I think we can probably allay some of your fears.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Shawn VanDiver runs AfghanEvac, a group fighting to bring Afghans who worked for the United States during the war to the U.S.
Shawn VanDiver:
There are 150 family — immediate family of active-duty U.S. military service members. So it’s not outside the realm of possibility that these service members are fighting this war in Iran while missile fragments and debris are falling on the heads of their family members stuck in this camp.
Leila Molana-Allen:
VanDiver hopes the residents he supports won’t be silenced by threats from camp staff. He’s now taking the fight to Washington and is prepared to report the case to the United Nations.
Shawn VanDiver:
They can’t lie to these kids or tell them that they might have Qatari police show up and arrest them and then deport them back to Afghanistan and have the camp’s Wi-Fi cut.
Leila Molana-Allen:
And none of that’s true.
Shawn VanDiver:
None of that is true. They can’t do that. And to increase the psychological anxiety that’s already being experienced by these folks at the camp just because Washington doesn’t want this terrible story out there, this is a United States government issue, and it’s stubbornness from the Trump administration.
They know that these people are stuck there. Their blood will be on their hands if they die.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Ehsan Jamshidi is one of the American soldiers with family stuck at the camp. He came to the U.S. from Afghanistan at 5 years old, became a citizen and later joined the Marine Corps.
Gunnery Sgt. Ehsan Jamshidi (Ret.), U.S. Marine Corps: I was like, you know what? This is my opportunity to give back to the country that gave to me and my family.
Leila Molana-Allen:
His older brother Masoud stayed in Afghanistan, later working as security for the U.S. Consulate in Herat protecting American diplomats even, after a deadly Taliban attack killed several of his colleagues. His bravery qualified him and his kids to join the rest of the family in the U.S. after being separated for 20 years.
But just days before they were due to travel last year, the rules changed and they were stranded in Qatar.
Gunnery Sgt. Ehsan Jamshidi (Ret.):
I’m speaking out now before it’s too late. My brother is in danger, and I do not want to see my nieces and nephews go through this. They are pretty much scared to death, and they seem to not be able to get away from war. And it’s just heartbreaking to see.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Ehsan says he feels let down as a Marine and as an American.
Gunnery Sgt. Ehsan Jamshidi (Ret.):
Serving my country was a great honor. And then I see my brother in Qatar and he’s not able to get out. And he’s being treated almost like his sacrifice and his service to the United States government did not matter.
Leila Molana-Allen:
It’s a feeling every soul in the camp shares, forgotten, abandoned, betrayed.
Man (through interpreter):
It feels like we’re not human, like our lives don’t matter. We’re in danger and we don’t know what will happen an hour from now.
Leila Molana-Allen:
With hopes of imminent rescue fading, all they can do is wait in fear.
For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Leila Molana-Allen in Doha, Qatar.
