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Canada agrees to resettle Afghans held in UAE facility
Canada will accept some 1,000 Afghans who fled the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), takeover of their homeland and have been held for months in a makeshift refugee center in the United Arab Emirates awaiting resettlement to the United States and elsewhere, Reuters quoting seven sources said.
Ottawa has agreed to a U.S. request to resettle some of the 5,000 Afghans still in Emirates Humanitarian City in Abu Dhabi, the sources said, and Canadian officials were now reviewing cases to identify those who meet Ottawa’s resettlement criteria.
It is the first known occasion of Afghans in the facility being resettled to a country to which they do not have direct ties with, such as by having worked with their government in Afghanistan, read the report.
Canada’s criteria for resettlement of those from the facility include religious minorities, single women, civil servants, social activists and journalists, the sources said.
Beyond the 1,000 people that Canada is taking at the request of the United States, Ottawa is also expected to take roughly a further 500 Afghans from the facility who do have ties to Canada, the sources said.
“It is happening,” said a U.S. source quoted by Reuters, who asked not to be further identified, confirming the Canadian resettlement operation expected to begin this month and end in October.
Asked about the arrangement, the Canadian embassy in Abu Dhabi shared an immigration department statement saying Ottawa’s priority was to support vulnerable Afghans getting to Canada.
Emirati authorities and the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi did not respond to requests for comment, read the report.
Mohammad, who said he was a legal adviser to U.S. government projects in Afghanistan, told Reuters from the facility that he had applied with his family for Canadian resettlement because the processing of their U.S. Special Immigration Visa applications has taken so long.
“Because of the delays, we decided to put our names on the list,” Mohammad said in a telephone interview on the condition that his last name be withheld. Like other Afghans there, he described the conditions in the facility as similar to “jail”.
“We have no freedom. We cannot go anywhere.”
Canada’s decision to accept the Afghans brings the temporary refugee center closer to closing, though sources said there was about another 1,000 who were not eligible to be relocated to the United States and would need resettlement elsewhere, Reuters reported.
The UAE, a close security partner of the United States, last year agreed to temporarily house several thousand Afghans evacuated from Kabul as the IEA ousted the U.S.-backed government during the final stages of the U.S.-led withdrawal.
More than 10,000 have since been relocated from the facility to the United States, while others were resettled to nations to which they had ties such as through working with their government in Afghanistan.
According to Reuters protests have sporadically broken out at the facility, including last month, over what Afghans complain is a lack of communication and transparency of the resettlement process. There has been at least one suicide attempt, according to sources and Afghans in the center.
The Canadian immigration department statement said Ottawa plans to resettle at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans to Canada by 2024. More than 17,650 had been resettled, it added.
Like other Gulf states, the UAE is not a signatory to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and typically does not accept refugees. Foreign diplomats said some Afghans had rejected job offers in the UAE as there was no clear pathway to citizenship.
U.S. officials have said no one would be forcibly returned to Afghanistan and that Washington was working with the UAE and other nations to find “resettlement options” for those Afghans ineligible for resettlement in the United States.
The United States has so far taken in more than 85,000 Afghans since August 2021, Reuter reported.
Since the Islamic Emirate came to power, approximately 6.8 million Afghans have returned home, either voluntarily or forcibly, from neighboring countries and other nations, according to the Minister of Refugees and Repatriation.
Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, speaking at a meeting on finalizing a draft plan for a permanent migration solution in Afghanistan, added that 1.3 million Afghans have been internally displaced due to natural disasters during the same period.
With winter approaching, widespread poverty and severe cold are threatening thousands of lives. Meanwhile, the forced expulsion of Afghan migrants from neighboring countries, particularly Iran and Pakistan, continues.
The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly urged neighboring states to allow migrants to return voluntarily. According to UNHCR, over two million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan since the start of 2025.
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Only one of three Afghan suspects was on US terror watch list of 18,000
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has identified nearly 2,000 Afghans with suspected terror ties and continues to share intelligence with law enforcement agencies.
U.S. authorities are reviewing a classified terror watch list of about 18,000 people after it emerged that only one of three Afghan nationals arrested in recent high-profile cases was on the list, the New York Post reported, citing an intelligence source.
According to the NY Post, the revelation has raised concerns that some suspects may have been radicalized after arriving in the United States. The issue gained renewed attention following last month’s shooting of National Guard members in Washington, DC.
National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent told lawmakers at a December 11 hearing that around 18,000 known or suspected terrorists entered the U.S. over a four-year period under the previous administration. Since then, officials have been combing through the database to assess potential threats and examine how certain individuals were admitted into the country.
Jaan Shah Safi was the only one of three recently arrested Afghan nationals listed in the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE), the U.S. government’s central terror database. Safi, who arrived in the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, is accused of providing weapons and other support to ISIS-K. U.S. officials say he remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
The other two suspects — Rahmanullah Lakanwal, charged with killing a National Guard member in Washington, and Mohammad Dawood Alokozay of Texas, accused of threatening a suicide attack — were not on the watch list, according to the Post. Intelligence officials cited in the report said this suggests they may have been radicalized after entering the United States.
The Post said the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has identified nearly 2,000 Afghans with suspected terror ties and continues to share intelligence with law enforcement agencies.
The issue has reignited debate over the vetting process used during the rapid evacuation of Afghans in 2021, when more than 100,000 people were brought to the United States.
Lawmakers and officials quoted by the New York Post called for closer scrutiny of those admitted during that period, amid growing political and public concern over national security and immigration policy.
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum of Afghanistan has signed a 30-year agreement with a private company to extract marble in Daikundi province.
Under the contract, the company will invest AFN 283 million in exploring and mining marble at the “Mesh-Uliya” site, spanning 16.74 square kilometers in central Daikundi.
Hedayatullah Badri, Minister of Mines and Petroleum, stated that the marble will be processed domestically before being exported abroad. He added that the Mesh-Uliya project is expected to create around 200 jobs, and the company is committed to supporting local communities through social initiatives.
Economic experts highlight that such investments, especially those focusing on domestic processing, are crucial for job creation, boosting exports, and strengthening the national economy. Analysts further note that the project will improve local infrastructure, expand social services, and enhance the economic and social well-being of Daikundi residents.
Since the return of the Islamic Emirate to power, efforts to develop Afghanistan’s mining sector have intensified, with multiple contracts signed in areas including cement, copper, iron, and lapis lazuli, involving both domestic and international companies.
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