by Kyle Anzalone | Aug 28, 2022

U.S. Army Pfc. Rafiou Affoh, carpentry and masonry specialist, with Afghan evacuees on Camp Liya, Kosovo, October 1, 2021.

The Department of Defense has routinely touted the success of flying tens of thousands of Afghans from Kabul as the country fell to the Taliban. A year later, thousands of the refugees are languishing in camps worldwide as they wait for Washington to allow them to enter America.

In Kosovo, the US opened Camp Liya next to the US Army base Camp Bondsteel. When Liya opened on August 29, 2021, the Pentagon said it would close in 365 days and act as a “lily pad” for Afghan refugees. The migrants were told they would only remain in Kosovo for a short time before receiving permission to enter the US or a third country. But many Afghans remain at Liya, and the DoD has scrapped plans to close the camp.

According to residents of Liya speaking with DW, the camp has become a prison. One man said, “A prisoner can have access to his case, and he can ask about his case, why he is here, for how long he will be in detention. If we ask that, they don’t give us any reason why we are in this camp and for how long.” Another resident said being stuck at Camp Liya means he cannot earn money for his family in Afghanistan, and his children are going hungry.

Many of the permanent residents of Liya say Washington has lacked transparency about the status of their immigration applications. “They told us that we would be here for a couple of months, but we are here for almost one year. After eight months they said: ‘You are not eligible to go to America.’ We ask them what’s the reason. They didn’t tell us,” an Afghan refugee told DW. Others say they have received no response from the US after several months.

While most detainees lack the resources to hire lawyers, one resident has a former Pentagon official working for him. Former intelligence analyst Julie Sirrs said, “I think the treatment is highly improper, especially in cases like my client’s, who provided tremendous assistance at great risk to his life. I understand there are others in a similar position to him in the camp and it’s just shocking to me, the very poor treatment they’ve been getting through this process.”

Like the thousands of Afghan refugees stranded at “Humanitarian City” in the UAE, residents of Camp Liya protested over the summer. One key complaint of refugees in both countries is deteriorating mental health. “Some people are depressed; some people have psychological problems,” an Afghan man told DW.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti approved of Washington extending the life of Camp Luys beyond the initial one-year agreement but declined to make a public comment.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/afghan-refugees-say-us-base-in-kosovo-has-become-a-prison-one-year-after-evacuation/