A funeral procession last month for Afghan Sikhs killed in an attack by an Islamic State gunman.
Photo: Tamana Sarwary/Associated PressThe last community of Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan is seeking asylum in the U.S. after suffering an attack by Islamic State extremists, posing a test of the Trump administration’s pledge to protect and support religious minorities world-wide.
The Islamic State attack targeting a Sikh temple in Kabul last month killed 25 people, while dozens of others were taken hostage in a six-hour siege ending in a gun battle with Afghanistan’s commandos, the elite army unit that works closely with U.S. Special Forces.
There are about 650 Sikhs and Hindus left in Afghanistan. The fear in the community is a reminder of the uncertainty facing the country after the U.S. reached a February deal with the Taliban to withdraw all of its troops next year.
“When the U.S. leaves, life for us will become impossible. It’s only a matter of time that all of us will be eliminated. We want refugee status and protection in a U.S. Army base here. We want this soon,” a Sikh community leader who lost three immediate relatives in the attack told The Wall Street Journal.
From the Archives
The Trump administration has made religious freedom a focus of its foreign-policy efforts, hosting an annual international conference to advance religious freedom and speaking out on the plights of minorities, such as the Christians in Iraq and the Uighurs in China.
Vice President Mike Pence has been the face of the religious-freedom agenda and helped steer hundreds of millions of dollars to Christians and other minorities threatened by Islamic State in Iraq.
Sarah Makin, a senior official on Mr. Pence’s staff, is handling the appeal from Sikhs and Hindus at the White House and was sent a video message from their lawyer last week. She didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A senior administration official said the Trump administration condemned the attack.
“We are aware of the Sikh community’s concerns, which have been expressed to senior U.S. officials, and will continue to advocate for freedom of religion for the Sikh community and people of all faiths,” the official told the Journal.
The asylum request by the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus pits the administration’s commitment to lowering immigration against its pledge to help those persecuted for their religious beliefs. In September, it dropped the refugee cap to 18,000, a record low, for the fiscal year 2020.
In previous episodes, such as in Iraq, the administration has encouraged minorities to rebuild their lives at home rather than seek a new start in the U.S. or elsewhere.
More on Afghanistan
- Islamic State Attacks Sikh Temple in Kabul (March 2020)
- U.S., Taliban Sign Deal Meant to End America’s Longest War (February 2020)
- Facing Intolerance, Many Sikhs and Hindus Leave Afghanistan (January 2015)
Islam is Afghanistan’s official religion, and while the constitution recognizes the freedom to worship in other faiths, minorities in practice often have faced harassment for their beliefs. In 2016, Hindus and Sikhs were granted a seat in parliament.
An Afghan presidential spokesman said that the government was aware of the concerns raised by the Hindus and Sikhs and that security forces were doing their best to protect them.
“The enemy is very dangerous,” the spokesman said. “The enemy kills others with suicide attacks.”
Hindus and Sikhs have lived in Afghanistan for hundreds of years, playing a prominent role in moneylending and merchant trade with the rest of Central Asia. Most fled during the civil war of the 1990s and the harsh Taliban rule that followed until the U.S. invaded in 2001.
The Sikh and Hindu population in Afghanistan declined further as the security situation deteriorated during the more than 18-year, U.S.-led war. In 2018, an Islamic State attack killed 19 of its community leaders who were waiting to meet President Ashraf Ghani in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
The Sikhs and Hindus that remain are mostly in Kabul and known for operating medicinal-herb shops.
The top U.S. envoy for religious freedom at the State Department, Samuel Brownback, told the Journal he had recently met with U.S.-based Sikhs to discuss their concerns. He declined to comment on the possibility of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus being granted asylum in the U.S.
“It was a tragic event in Kabul,” he said, referring to the attack in March.
The Sikh and Hindu community will join a crowded field of émigrés world-wide, at a time when violence and persecution has driven global refugee numbers higher. The State Department expects to process 350,000 new asylum claims this year, joining over a million others awaiting adjudication in the U.S.
Rajdeep Jolly, a U.S. lawyer representing the Afghan community in Washington, said the imminent threat of another attack was grounds to expedite their claims and resettle them in the current year. He said that recent U.S. calls on the Afghan government to provide better security for its religious minorities wasn’t a viable solution.
“There’s a thin line between killing people and letting them die,” he said.
Immigration flows into the U.S. are grinding to a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic. Most routine visa processing has been suspended and the U.S. is no longer accepting any asylum requests at its southern border.
The situation in Afghanistan has grown especially precarious since the U.S.-Taliban peace deal. The U.S. has agreed to withdraw all of its troops within 14 months in return for guarantees the country will no longer be used as a safe haven for terrorists seeking to attack the West.
An ongoing political crisis in Kabul over the outcome of a disputed presidential election has resulted in both President Ghani and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, declaring victory and holding parallel inaugurations last month.
Since then, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has ordered a $1 billion cut in aid to Afghanistan over the government’s failure to overcome the differences and begin talks with the Taliban. The pressure appeared to precipitate an agreement between Mr. Ghani and Mr. Abdullah to begin talks with the insurgent group, but the Taliban broke off the process after a week.
Each side has accused the other of negotiating in poor faith.
Write to Jessica Donati at jessica.donati@wsj.com
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