Briefing guide shows the Biden administration has allowed the mistreatment of Afghans who were evacuated by the U.S. and are being held in 36 countries

On January 14, 2025, ALC, Muslim Advocates, and the Center for Constitutional Rights reported that the U.S. government has enlisted at least 36 countries to arbitrarily hold tens of thousands of evacuated Afghans—many in what appear to be prison-like facilities, subjected to human rights abuses and months in limbo. Contrary to its public assertions, the Biden administration retains significant control over these sites and has allowed the inhumane conditions to persist and deteriorate.

Since 2021, when the U.S. government evacuated over 124,000 Afghans, it has closely guarded details of their effective confinement in so-called “lily pad” sites around the globe—third-country locations the U.S. government has coordinated, facilitated, or otherwise organized to process and hold Afghan evacuees\. This new, fuller picture comes courtesy of Freedom of Access to Information (FOIA) litigation brought by the organizations Abolitionist Law Center, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Muslim Advocates. Although still far from complete due to continued withholding and redactions, the records reveal widespread suffering inflicted on a population that the U.S. government has purported to help, and their plight is likely to grow even more dire when incoming President Trump implements his anti-migrant agenda.

The Biden Administration has obfuscated and distorted facts regarding its intimate role in facilitating these prison-like holding facilities, consistently trying to evade responsibility and urgent concerns raised by human rights and Afghan rights groups—all while continuing to applaud itself for its deadly and botched withdrawal and evacuation efforts. Nearly two years of litigation and review of government records Afghan civilians have submitted multiple appeals to U.S. government officials, pleading for movement on individual case processing after remaining in limbo for prolonged periods. Other records reveal cruel cases of family separation, denial of access to humanitarian and human rights groups, and inhumane conditions, which have resulted in trauma and mental health crises. 

The records, analyzed in a briefing guide released today, confirm and detail the involvement of agencies and high-level federal officials in both the establishment and oversight of the holding facilities. While the administration was publicly downplaying its influence at these sites, it was signing agreements with third countries promising to ensure humane treatment for Afghans—and violating those agreements. One document shows, for example, that U.S. officials allowed a facility in Qatar to hold 4,000 people even though the recommended limit for “safe and humane accommodations” was 2,600.

The Biden administration was informed in detail by Human Rights Watch of the abysmal conditions at Emirates Humanitarian City (EHC) in Abu Dhabi and did nothing in response. Records also reveal email communications between government officials discussing cases of egregious family separation at EHC, and correspondence from Afghans detained there in which they object to the length and conditions of their detention or otherwise prolonged holding, deteriorating mental health, inadequate facilities, inability to interact with society at large, and fear of repatriation.

The Biden administration’s initial agreements with third-party countries allow for short-term confinement, but subsequent amendments extend the duration of Afghans’ indefinite, effective detention and prolonged holding. The administration has ignored requests for individualized handling of cases from many of the thousands of Afghans stranded for months and even years in these U.S.-facilitated sites.

For more information, read U.S. Government-Facilitated “Lily Pad” Sites Abroad Continue Decades-Long Policy of Violence Towards the Afghan People here.