Latest News
Tourists begin to return to Afghanistan as IEA eyes economic and diplomatic gains
Afghanistan is seeing the slow return of international tourists—arriving by plane, camper van, motorbike, and even bicycle
After decades of war and isolation, Afghanistan is seeing the slow return of international tourists—arriving by plane, camper van, motorbike, and even bicycle—drawn by curiosity, adventure, and the country’s dramatic landscapes and rich history.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government, which took control in August 2021 and remains unrecognized by all but a few nations, is eager to welcome them.
“The Afghan people are warm and welcoming and wish to host tourists from other countries and engage with them,” Deputy Minister of Tourism Qudratullah Jamal told AP in an interview earlier this month. “Tourism brings many benefits to a country, and we aim for our nation to take full advantage.”
While still modest, the numbers are growing. Nearly 9,000 foreign tourists visited Afghanistan in 2023, with almost 3,000 arriving in just the first quarter of 2024, according to Jamal. The government has eased visa procedures, increased flight connectivity through hubs like Dubai and Istanbul, and established a tourism training institute.
Tourism’s potential economic impact is clear. “We are currently earning considerable revenue from this industry, and we are hopeful it will grow,” Jamal said. “It reaches more people than other industries and can evolve into a large part of our economy.”
Yet the appeal of adventure tourism in Afghanistan is not without challenges, especially as the country remains under Western travel advisories due to security concerns.
Ethical questions also loom. The IEA’s restrictions on women and girls—including bans on secondary and university education, most professions, and public leisure spaces—have drawn global condemnation. Beauty salons are banned, and strict dress codes enforced. Yet foreign women face far fewer restrictions and are typically allowed to move more freely, sometimes even entering parks barred to Afghan women.
Jamal declined to address the issue of women’s rights directly, saying only that both male and female tourists were welcome: “Those who respect our laws and traditions have already come and can continue to come.”
Some travelers acknowledged grappling with the moral implications of visiting. French-Peruvian Illary Gomez and her British partner, James Liddiard, spent a year debating whether to pass through Afghanistan on their U.K.-to-Japan camper van journey.
“Some things didn’t feel morally right,” Gomez admitted. But once in the country, they were struck by the kindness of ordinary Afghans. “You put money in the hands of the people, not the government,” Liddiard told AP.
For the IEA, tourism is also about diplomacy. “It’s a great way to promote interaction between people of different countries,” Jamal said. “It expands commerce, fosters mutual understanding, and builds trust. This is not just economic development—it brings spiritual and political benefits.”
President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program on Thursday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that, at Trump’s direction, she is ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program, the Associated Press reported.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente.
Neves Valente, 48, is suspected in the shootings at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, and the killing of an MIT professor. He was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
Neves Valente had studied at Brown on a student visa beginning in 2000, according to an affidavit from a Providence police detective. In 2017, he was issued a diversity immigrant visa and months later obtained legal permanent residence status, according to the affidavit. It was not immediately clear where he was between taking a leave of absence from the school in 2001 and getting the visa in 2017.
The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the U.S., many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges.
Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with more than 131,000 selected when including spouses with the winners. After winning, they must undergo vetting to win admission to the United States. Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots.
Lottery winners are invited to apply for a green card. They are interviewed at consulates and subject to the same requirements and vetting as other green-card applicants.
Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem’s announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals. After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, Trump’s administration imposed sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan and other counties.
While pursuing mass deportation, Trump has sought to limit or eliminate avenues to legal immigration. He has not been deterred if they are enshrined in law, like the diversity visa lottery, or the Constitution, as with a right to citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his challenge to birthright citizenship.
Sixty-one members of the U.S. Congress have urged the Trump administration to reverse its decision to halt immigration processing for Afghan nationals, warning that the move unfairly targets Afghan nationals following a deadly shooting involving two National Guard members.
In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the lawmakers said the incident should not be used to vilify Afghans who are legally seeking entry into the United States. They stressed that Afghan applicants undergo extensive vetting involving multiple U.S. security agencies.
The letter criticized the suspension of Special Immigrant Visa processing, the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan, and broader travel and asylum restrictions, warning that such policies endanger Afghan allies who supported U.S. forces during the war.
“Exploiting this tragedy to sow division and inflame fear will not make America safer. Abandoning those who made the courageous choice to stand beside us signals to those we may need as allies in the future that we cannot be trusted to honor our commitments. That is a mistake we cannot afford,” the group said.
The U.S. admitted nearly 200,000 Afghan nationals in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.S. military and their families still wait at military bases and refugee camps around the world for a small number of SIVs.
An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 struck Afghanistan on Friday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The quake occurred at 10:09 local time at a depth of 35 km, USGS said.
Its epicentre was 25 kilometres from Nahrin district of Baghlan province in north Afghanistan.
US pauses green card lottery program after Brown University shooting
India issues over 200 medical visas to Afghans in last four months
Dozens of U.S. lawmakers oppose Afghan immigration freeze after Washington shooting
Magnitude 5.3 earthquake strikes Afghanistan – USGS
Chairman of US House intel panel criticizes Afghan evacuation vetting process
Afghanistan U19 cricket team defeats India A U19
Afghanistan economy under pressure as Pakistan shocks reshape trade flows
Gaza death toll tops 70,000, health ministry says
India set to establish pharmaceutical factories in Afghanistan: MoIC
Afghanistan offers tax breaks, free land to attract Indian investors
Tahawol: Global concerns over migration escalation discussed
Saar: Calls for Afghanistan’s balanced, economy-oriented foreign policy discussed
Tahawol: Discussion on regional countries’ meetings on Afghanistan
Saar: Regional efforts to address Afghanistan-Pakistan issues discussed
Tahawol: Officials say interactions must be based on realities
-
Latest News4 days agoGermany speeds up admission of Afghans from Pakistan
-
Sport4 days agoIPL 2026 Auction set for Abu Dhabi with $28.6 million purse at stake
-
Business5 days agoAfghan economy posts second year of growth despite deep structural challenges
-
Latest News4 days agoAfghanistan to establish independent oil and gas authority
-
Sport5 days agoATN to broadcast ‘The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025’
-
Latest News4 days agoUS intelligence chief warns of ‘direct threat’ from suspected terrorists inside the country
-
Latest News3 days agoIEA supreme leader stresses enforcement of Sharia law and sincere public service
-
International Sports4 days agoILT20: Desert Vipers qualify for playoffs with five-wicket win over Dubai Capitals