Ex-US Marine Sean Jamshidi denied access to brother at Qatar Afghan camp

September 25, 2026 at 03:26 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Former US Marine Sean Jamshidi was denied access to his brother Mohammad Masood Jamshidi at the As-Sayliyah camp in Qatar on September 23. The camp, holding about 1,100 Afghans, is due to close on September 30 with residents' futures unresolved. Sean had been granted access during a previous visit in February.

Key Facts

The As-Sayliyah camp in Qatar holds about 1,100 Afghans and is due to close on September 30.
292 camp residents have been officially denied access to the United States, according to AfghanEvac.
More than 400 camp residents are children, AfghanEvac reports.
All Afghanistan-related immigration requests were halted by a presidential executive order in November 2025.
Roughly 400,000 Afghans have been resettled in the United States since 2001, a State Department official said.

Camp Access Denied

Sean Jamshidi arrived in Qatar to visit his brother Mohammad Masood Jamshidi, a former security guard at the US consulate in Herat. He was denied access to the As-Sayliyah camp, a former US Army base, on September 23. Sean told RFE/RL he wanted to see his brother's family and bring them cash, saying they are traumatized. During a previous trip in February, Sean was granted access to the camp.

Resettlement Uncertainty

Camp residents were evacuated from Afghanistan after the 2021 US withdrawal and expected resettlement in the United States. A November 2025 executive order halted all Afghanistan-related immigration requests after an Afghan national shot two National Guard members near the White House. A State Department official said the US has kept its promise to Afghans who supported the US government, with roughly 400,000 resettled since 2001. The official added that it is long past time to move past the decades-long conflict.

Brother's Background

Sean Jamshidi was born in Afghanistan and came to the United States at age 4 in 2000. He joined the Marine Corps at age 18, inspired by seeing Marines in Afghanistan. Mohammad Masood Jamshidi worked as a security guard at the US consulate in Herat when it was attacked by Taliban bombers.