The U.S. will move roughly 1,100 Afghan residents off Camp As-Sayliyah in Doha by March 31, while the platform is set to be fully demobilized by the end of the fiscal year. Most residents are USRAP applicants and many are women, children, or family members of U.S. military personnel; processing for U.S. programs has largely stalled. Advocacy groups call for voluntary, transparent third-country relocation and say current offers — including cash incentives to return to Afghanistan — fall far short of promised protections.
U.S. To Move 1,100 Afghans Off Doha Platform by March 31 With No Clear Resettlement Plan
The U.S. Is Forcing Afghan Allies Into Exile With No Way Forward
About 1,100 Afghan residents of Camp As-Sayliyah (CAS), a temporary platform in Doha, Qatar, are scheduled to be relocated off the base by March 31, with the site set to be fully demobilized by the end of the fiscal year. Many residents remain uncertain which country will receive them and whether processing for U.S. refugee or visa programs will continue after the move.
Administration Statements And Responses
The State Department's Office of Press Operations confirmed the relocation timeline and told Reason that CAS is "a legacy of the Biden Administration's attempt to move as many Afghans to America as possible — in many cases, without proper vetting." The department also said the current administration "has no plans to send these people back to Afghanistan," and argued that it is "not appropriate or humane to keep this group of individuals on the platform indefinitely." Officials described relocation to third countries as a "positive resolution" that protects both the remaining residents and U.S. security interests.
Advocates And Residents Push Back
Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, strongly rejected the claim that CAS residents were inadequately screened. "The United States government made the decision to move these Afghans to CAS, and it did so after extensive screening—often multiple rounds—using the same interagency processes that have governed Afghan relocations for years," he said. VanDiver acknowledged that keeping people on a temporary platform indefinitely is inhumane but argued the central question is what responsibility the United States will accept for people it moved there in the first place.
"Third-country relocation may be appropriate in some cases, but it should be voluntary, transparent, and genuinely durable," VanDiver said. "Dropping people into countries where they have no ties, limited legal protections, and uncertain futures is not a 'solution' if it simply exports the problem and strips people of agency."
Uncertainty About Destinations And Processing
Residents report that base leadership has met with them but has not identified receiving countries or clarified whether U.S. processing (for programs such as the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and Special Immigrant Visas) will continue after relocation. Some residents say they have heard they might be moved to an African country, while others report Central or South America has been floated as well. Several individuals said they would refuse transfers to impoverished countries where work and education opportunities are severely limited.
Who Is On The Platform
Most CAS residents are applicants to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), whose processing reportedly halted after a January 20, 2025 executive order. A smaller group are Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants, some of whom have received denials; with the SIV pipeline paused, applicants who reach interview stages are reportedly receiving unappealable denials. Advocates say more than half of the CAS population are women and children, and that roughly 150 residents are family members of U.S. military personnel.
Offers, Risks, And Humanitarian Strains
U.S. officials have reportedly offered cash incentives for some residents willing to return to Afghanistan. A leaked copy of a cash-incentive letter promises only to "attempt to conduct a welfare check immediately" after an applicant's arrival in Afghanistan — a pledge critics call insufficient given the danger many were originally evacuated from.
With formal resettlement and visa pipelines effectively frozen, nonprofits and evacuation groups face rising costs and difficulty sustaining safe houses and support networks for SIV and USRAP applicants stuck in Afghanistan or third countries. Many applicants wait in neighboring countries such as Pakistan, where recent mass deportations — estimated at roughly one million Afghans in the past year — have increased risks. Andrew Sullivan, executive director of No One Left Behind, reported that seven principal applicants staying in his organization's safe houses in Pakistan were deported in the past month.
What Critics Say
Advocates argue that third-country relocation should be voluntary, transparent, and durable, not a one-way transfer to countries where residents have no ties or legal protections. They also call on the U.S. to clarify whether processing for U.S. programs will continue after relocation and to take responsibility for people previously evacuated under U.S. assurances. Observers warn that unless resettlement and visa programs are reinstated or replaced with durable alternatives, the damage to America's credibility and promises to its allies could be lasting.
Reporting note: This article is based on reporting by Reason and interviews with advocacy groups, CAS residents, and U.S. officials.
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