Afghan refugee: Stuck at US camp in Kosovo 'like prisoners'

A former Afghan intelligence officer and politician who worked closely with the US government before the Taliban takeover of the country says that he and more than 40 other Afghan refugees are stuck at a US military base in Kosovo "like prisoners" nearly a year after being evacuated from Afghanistan.

Muhammad Arif Sarwari told CBS News in a text message that he worked with the CIA during the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US. He then went on to be a top intelligence official and a politician before evacuating with Americans last August when the US withdrew from the country.

Sarwari said among those stuck at the US military base Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo are people who were in the Defense Ministry of Afghanistan, police officers and regular people who worked with the CIA and the US embassy in Kabul.

"We have absolutely no freedom to leave the area. We only have access to one field, the bathrooms, the dining hall and our tent. Not only are we unable to leave the camp, but we can't speak to most of the visitors," Sarwari told CBS.

Sarwari said that when he and some of the other refugees evacuated on a military plane from Kabul during the chaotic US withdrawal last August, he was initially taken to Kuwait and Qatar, and then ended up at Camp Bondsteel.

He was told that if they had to stay there longer than a few weeks, better housing would be provided.

Nine months later, their living situation hasn't changed, their request to enter the US hasn't been granted and they have no information on the status of their application.

Sarwari said he was desperate to leave Camp Bondsteel so he could start earning money to support his family back in Afghanistan and was considering just trying to walk out of the camp.

The US State Department told CBS News that it couldn't comment on individual cases, but that Sarwari's account didn't give a full picture of life at the camp.

It said that the description of the situation at Camp Bondsteel by the refugees is incomplete, and that Afghans at the camp have access to a number of facilities, including a gym, a safe space for women and children, and a playground, as well as medical and psychological services and classes and activities.

CBS said that a US government source familiar with the situation said that more than 600 Afghans have been processed in Kosovo and proceeded to resettle in the United States.

The State Department said that the relatively small number of residents who haven't been approved for resettlement in the US were examples of the system working as it should.

The prolonged waiting and lack of information prompted the refugees to stage a protest in June, said Sarwari. The refugees, including some children, held signs that read: "Human rights violation"; "How long should we suffer"; "We want justice"; "We want freedom."

Sarwari shared photos of the children with CBS News.

Sarwari said he is staying at the camp with his wife and two daughters. The children were given a few classes and some games after more than three months there, but there are no proper schools.

He said that stress has caused a range of medical problems in the camp. "The only trip we've had so far is going in and out of the hospital. One man here had a heart attack, which was severe enough to be sent straight to the US for surgery. The cause was stress. A few of the ladies here had miscarriages — also caused by stress. We've faced multiple other health problems."

Sarwari said he is more than disappointed with the US government. "People here have worked with the US against terrorism and have risked their lives for this cause and are innocent, yet some were titled as ineligible, while other people have unclear futures. The vetting team and Washington has clearly failed, just like how they failed in Afghanistan."

Another refugee at the camp, who also worked with the US in Afghanistan during the war and asked to remain anonymous to protect his family in Afghanistan, said he was denied entry to the US, asked to go to another country and was denied again after another two months of waiting.

"We are living in the camps since day one as inmates and even lower than inmates; inmates have the right to work and the right to find some means of sustaining their families but, why don't we have that right too?" he said in a letter to the State Department dated June 25, 2022.

"Why are we deprived of all the freedoms? We are not allowed to go outside the camps. Why don't we have access to legitimate legal entities and services? Media is not allowed to come inside the campus, and we are not allowed to individually seek solutions for ourselves."

The letter said that three refugees at the base had requested permission from the US to return to Afghanistan, and their requests were granted.