World Relief Pleads for Reconsideration of Proposal to Send Afghan Allies of the U.S. Military to War-Torn Democratic Republic of Congo

Global humanitarian organization urges U.S. government to honor promises made to U.S. allies

Contact: Lauren Rasmussen, media@wr.org, 802.310.4255

BALTIMORE, Md. – Today, various news outlets followed a New York Times report that the Trump administration is considering a plan to remove up to 1,100 Afghan men, women and children from their current location in Qatar, requiring them to choose between returning to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan or being sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both conflict-plagued countries are facing among the most severe humanitarian crises in the world. World Relief pleads with the administration to reconsider this proposal and instead resume resettlement of both Afghan and Congolese refugees to the United States upon completion of thorough vetting.  

“This proposal is cruel and shortsighted,” said World Relief president and CEO Myal Greene. “Afghans who risked their lives to stand alongside the U.S. military were promised protection. To abandon them now – either to the Taliban forces whom they fled or to a separate country beset by war, conflict and extreme poverty – is morally wrong, and I hope and pray that the administration will not pursue this reported plan.” 

If these reports are accurate, the administration is considering sending hundreds of individuals from Afghanistan – the top country of origin for refugees resettled to the United States last year – to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the number two country of origin for refugees resettled to the United States in fiscal year 2025.  

Having operated in the DRC for roughly twenty-five years in partnership with local churches, World Relief has a firsthand perspective on the stark humanitarian challenges facing the country. “The DRC, which has been plagued by war and conflict for decades, needs the prayers and support of the American people, not additional refugees from an entirely separate conflict,” added Greene. 

“We hope and pray President Trump will consider the obvious alternative to this plan: reopen the U.S. refugee resettlement program, which for nearly half a century has allowed faith-based organizations like World Relief to partner with local churches and other Americans to welcome and help integrate carefully-vetted refugees who have fled persecution for reasons such as their service to the U.S. military, their faith or their ethnicity,” said Aerlande Wontamo, World Relief’s Senior Vice President for U.S. Programs. 

In a recent survey sponsored by World Relief, Lifeway Research found that 82 percent of all Protestant pastors, including 78% of evangelical Protestant pastors, believe that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to welcome refugees. When asked which groups should be a priority for refugee resettlement, roughly two-thirds of pastors cited Afghans who face persecution on account of their service to the U.S. military as translators or in other capacities. Just 2% of Protestant pastors believe that the U.S. should not admit any refugees, and just 18% say that the priority should be Afrikaners from South Africa, the only group currently being admitted. Afghan military allies, Christians persecuted for their faith and those who have fled war in countries such as the DRC, Sudan and Ukraine – all priorities named by the majority of Protestant pastors – are currently entirely shut out of resettlement.