Qatar asks US to relocate Afghan evacuees in Doha by September 2026

DUBAI: Qatar has asked the United States to relocate Afghan evacuees currently living in Doha by September 29, 2026, under a temporary hosting arrangement that has now been extended, according to diplomatic documents released by the US State Department.

The documents show that Qatar and the United States have agreed to continue the arrangement until 2026. However, Qatar has underlined that the deal is temporary and has asked Washington to resolve the status of all Afghan evacuees already housed at the camp.

The agreement applies to Afghan nationals evacuated after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. They are being accommodated at Camp As Sayliyah near Doha while awaiting resettlement in the United States or other countries.

More than 1,100 evacuees are currently staying at the facility, according to the documents.

Qatar seeks end date for hosting arrangement

The diplomatic papers indicate that Qatar has also requested that no additional Afghan evacuees be transferred to its territory under the arrangement. The latest extension means the hosting deal will remain in place until late September 2026, but responsibility for relocating the evacuees after that deadline will rest with the United States under the terms of the agreement.

Camp As Sayliyah served as a major transit hub during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, when thousands of Afghans passed through the facility as part of processing for resettlement abroad.

The original agreement between Qatar and the United States was signed in 2023. It was extended once in 2024 before the latest extension reflected in the State Department documents.

The newly released documents make clear that Qatar wants the current population at the camp to be processed and relocated within the agreed timeframe, while also preventing the arrival of any new evacuees.

Facility remains tied to post-2021 evacuation effort

The arrangement is linked to the broader evacuation and resettlement effort that followed the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Since then, Afghan nationals covered by the agreement have remained in Doha pending decisions on their onward relocation.

According to the documents, the United States will be responsible for ensuring that evacuees are relocated once the September 29, 2026 deadline is reached.

The extension keeps the temporary hosting framework in place for now, but Qatar’s position, as reflected in the diplomatic record, is that the arrangement should not become permanent.