Dozens of Afghans who were evacuated to the UAE in August– and are now stranded there—held protests in which they called on the US to facilitate their withdrawal from the UAE.
The Afghans were given promises of being evacuated to the US.
The US embassy in UAE said the legal documents of the evacuees may take from six months to five years to be finalized.
The protestors were chanting “evacuate us to the US.”
“We should not be treated with a duel policy. We should be treated as the rest of the refugees,” a protestor said.
The Afghan evacuees are staying at a military base in Abdu Dhabi.
The evacuees include women and children. The protestors accused the US of having a double standard for evacuees stranded in military bases in Qatar and UAE, saying that due to security threats they cannot return back to Afghanistan.
“We are fed up with this. We cannot accept it anymore. We are like prisoners here,” a protestor said.
International relations experts said due to complexities in the migration issues, the process may take some time.
“The protests will not solve anything. My advice for them is be patient and let the US continue its activities normally,” said Qamaruddin, Jabarkhil, an international relations analyst.
