Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticised the Trump administration on Thursday over plans to shut down a key Afghan relocation facility in Qatar, warning the move could leave hundreds of at-risk Afghans stranded and undermine US commitments to wartime allies.
She said the planned closure of Camp As Sayliya – a major transit hub used to process Afghan evacuees before resettlement in the United States – was being carried out without a clear plan to relocate those currently housed there.
“I am very disappointed by this administration’s decision to close a critical hub for Afghan relocations in Qatar without any plan to safely resettle hundreds of at-risk Afghans,” Shaheen said in a statement. She said those affected included women, children and Afghans who assisted US forces during the 20-year war.
Shaheen urged the administration to honour commitments made after the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, warning that abandoning Afghan partners would damage US credibility. “Turning our backs on partners who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with US forces is a profound betrayal of our values,” she said.
The Washington Times earlier reported that the Trump administration had notified Congress of plans to close the camp by the end of September. The facility was set up to allow Afghan evacuees to undergo security screening and administrative processing before travelling to the United States, after criticism that thousands were flown directly to US soil during the chaotic evacuation in 2021.
Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also criticised the decision, calling it “short-sighted” and warning it would cut off one of the last remaining pathways for the safe relocation of Afghan allies. “Closing this centre is yet another reckless step to eliminate safe relocation options for our Afghan partners,” Meeks said in a statement.
Advocacy group AfghanEvac said about 800 Afghans remain at Camp As Sayliya after US refugee admissions were halted last year. Its president, Shawn VanDiver, said the US government had offered some evacuees cash payments to abandon efforts to resettle in the United States and return to Afghanistan.
“These are not anonymous cases,” VanDiver said, adding that those at the camp include former prosecutors who jailed Taliban members, women who served in Afghan special forces alongside US troops, and family members of active-duty US service personnel. He warned that returning them to Taliban-run Afghanistan could expose them to persecution or death.
The administration’s plan comes amid renewed political scrutiny of the Afghan evacuation following the arrest of an Afghan national accused of attacking US National Guard members in Washington. Government watchdogs have said background checks on some evacuees were hampered by missing documentation, with tens of thousands arriving without formal identity papers.
Democratic lawmakers have cautioned against using isolated cases to justify broad restrictions. Senator Alex Padilla of California said punishing all Afghan allies “for the actions of a single individual” would be unjust, adding that many evacuees had risked their lives to support US missions.
