USA (MNN) — Afghan refugees living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status have 11 days left to “self-deport” or face fines and forced deportation. More about that here.
Roughly 200,000 Afghan immigrants and refugees came to the U.S. when Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021. Among them were approximately 300 Afghan Christians who faced a death sentence if they stayed in Afghanistan and their faith was discovered.
A recent letter from U.S. faith leaders to President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem seeking an exemption for Afghan believers reads:
“As legitimate reforms to our immigration system are underway, we must make sure not to throw out the baby with the bath water. Humanitarian parole status should be preserved for some of those most in danger, like Muslim-background Christians from Afghanistan, who face death if they are sent home. Keeping a pathway for persecuted Christians to receive refugee or asylum status is an important part of the United States’ effort to promote religious freedom.”
While anyone affiliated with the U.S. faces danger if forced back to Afghanistan, Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says believers fall into a special category.
“Any Afghan Christian sent back to Afghanistan, particularly if they had been public in any way about their faith in Christ, that would put them in the crosshairs of the Taliban,” Nettleton says.
Dangers in Afghanistan
Extremist groups like the Taliban consider following Jesus an especially heinous crime.
“If people are publicly identified as being apostates – people who left Islam, they are now following Jesus Christ – their lives are at risk,” Nettleton says.
“Lives are in jeopardy if Christian people are forced to return to places where Christians are persecuted and even killed.”
The danger to Afghan Christians extends beyond simply having their faith discovered. Women and girls are being erased from public society. Increasing numbers of returnees are exacerbating Afghanistan’s limited resources and weakened infrastructure.
Yet some believers want to go home despite the risk. “There are Afghan Christians who say, ‘I want to be in Afghanistan. I want to serve the Lord there,’” Nettleton says. 
“But the Taliban was able to get many records from the previous government. They were able to get many records from other national embassies evacuated quite quickly during the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” he continues.
“Knowing all the information, potentially, that the Taliban had, what would happen when a Christian person landed in Kabul? What would immigration do?”
Find your place in the story
Now that you know, what can you do to help?
“The first thing we want to do is pray, but then we also want to let our leaders know that we’re concerned about the safety of Christians who would be returned to places where they are almost certain to face persecution,” Nettleton says.
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“Pray for our Afghan Christian brothers and sisters who are potentially facing persecution, not only from the Taliban but even from family members,” Nettleton says.
“[Pray] that the Gospel will advance. We know Afghan brothers and sisters are also praying for that and even taking great risks to help that prayer be answered.”
