WASHINGTON—Dozens of Afghans who were evacuated to the United Arab Emirates as the Taliban seized power last summer are volunteering to be sent back despite the danger of reprisals so they can support families left behind,  evacuees say.

One Afghan evacuee who worked at Kabul airport said in an interview from Afghanistan, where he returned last week, that U.S. military officials promised him shelter in America in return for his help with the evacuation effort. Afghan evacuees often were the primary breadwinners for extended families left behind and hoped to quickly begin working in order to send money home.

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He said his family back in Afghanistan ran out of savings while waiting for news on his case at a U.A.E. camp for Afghans, which is now the temporary home for thousands of evacuees.

“I have to go because of my family. It’s been almost seven months. My family has nothing to eat. Who will feed them?” he said he told U.S. officials. He was working at Kabul airport when the city fell, and was unable to leave to take his family with him.

To leave the camp, he said he was required to sign a paper stating he wouldn’t be at risk back in Afghanistan, even though he fears the Taliban will hunt him down for working with the U.S., then disappearing for six months.

“I told them of course my life will be in danger,” he said. “They said, you can’t go unless you sign it. So I had no other option.”

The State Department declined to say how many Afghans had volunteered to be sent back to Afghanistan, and advised contacting the U.A.E. for information. It didn’t comment on the requirement to sign a declaration about risk before leaving. The U.A.E. embassy in Washington didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Evacuees from Afghanistan arrived in August in Abu Dhabi.

Photo: chandramohan vidhyaa/Reuters

“We have encouraged Afghans at U.A.E. Emirates Humanitarian City not to return to Afghanistan, as we complete surveys among remaining travelers to determine their eligibility for onward travel to the U.S. or potentially a third country,” the State Department said. “The United States remains in active conversations with bilateral and international partners about third country resettlement for those Afghans who may ultimately not be able to travel to the United States.”

The Afghan evacuee who returned to Afghanistan to support his family said he was part of a group of about 45 other Afghans that departed last week. He is now sheltering at a relative’s house with his wife and daughters, worried the Taliban will come looking for him.

“I have no job, no salary and unfortunately no future,” he said.

Thousands of Afghans have been waiting for more than six months at the tightly secured camp known as Emirates Humanitarian City in the U.A.E. hoping to be allowed into the U.S. after escaping Afghanistan aboard U.S. military and private charter flights. Last month, protests broke out over conditions there, which evacuees likened to prison because to restrictions on movement and the lack of information about their cases.

Following the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Kabul over the summer, the Biden administration called on allies to host evacuees temporarily. The administration has yet to identify a path for thousands who ended up in third countries and are still waiting to enter the U.S.

The Emirati camp was initially set up to house Afghans for weeks. It has become an indefinite way station for almost 10,000 people who lack documentation to travel to the U.S.

Afghans being held there say they are often confined to their rooms because of concerns about Covid-19, and that access to immigration officials is limited.

“There is no hope to wake up to. If you wake up in prison, at least you know [when you’ll be released],” said an evacuee at the camp. “Here you don’t know. And you don’t know whom to contact for help.”

Emiratis say they are doing their best to make life comfortable at the camp, setting up classrooms for children and other facilities, such as an on-site hospital and beauty salon.

The Biden administration admitted some 75,000 Afghans who boarded U.S. military flights to the U.S. last year under a temporary status known as humanitarian parole. But officials say the Afghans who remain in third countries have to complete the regular immigration process before entering the U.S., which can take years.

Write to Jessica Donati at jessica.donati@wsj.com