Afghan families arrive in New York, others remain in danger
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Mohammad Wali hugs Rep. Tom Suozzi after a successful effort was made to evacuate Wali’s wife and three children from Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Suozzi.
By Jacob Kaye
It’s been a little over two weeks since the U.S. ended its evacuation operations in Afghanistan and while it was a success for many, others who wish to escape an expected repressive Taliban regime remain in the country.
In all, the U.S. evacuated around 82,000 American citizens and allies from the country, which was home to the longest war in American history. However, it’s estimated that over 100,000 allied Afghans remain in the country and are looking for a way out.
For those who escaped, it was no easy task.
Mohammad Wali’s wife and three children were in Kabul, Afghanistan, when the Taliban overthrew the U.S.-backed Afghan government. Wali, who lives in Long Island, contacted Rep. Tom Suozzi, his congressional representative, for help.
For nearly two weeks, Suozzi and his staffers made hundreds of calls, texts and emails in an effort to connect the family with U.S. soldiers on the ground in Kabul as well as Allied Airlift, a nonprofit aiding evacuation efforts, according to a spokesperson from the congress member's office.
The family was instructed to arrive at the airport, put a red bandanna on their 1-year-old child and hold him up in the air, so they’d be recognized. They were spotted, got on a flight and headed to Qatar, then to Germany and finally to New York.
On Wednesday, the family was reunited at Wali’s Manhattan restaurant.
“As soon as I heard from the Wali family, and learned that their 8 and 6-year-old children were American citizens, I knew we had to do all we could to get them out of Kabul,” Suozzi said. “Without the work of my wonderful staff, the State Department, US military, and Allied Airlift, the safe evacuation of the Wali family would have not been possible.”
Rebuilding in the U.S.
Unlike the Wali family, some have arrived in the U.S. with no immediate place to go and few resources.
“Let’s say we get everybody out, which would be the ideal,” said Queens Assemblymember Catalina Cruz. “Now we have to figure out where they’re going to be, how we’re going to house them, how are we going to give them the real tools to become members of our community who can provide for themselves, who we can support. That’s going to take some time.”
A group of immigration attorneys with Immigrant ARC have been working to help arriving families settle in New York.
For those arriving without any connection to the U.S., they’ll likely have a “long, hard road ahead,” said Camille Mackler, the executive director of Immigrant ARC.
“It's the same story as anybody who sustained trauma and who are sort of coming into a system that is unfamiliar, and not particularly designed to help support them,” Mackler said.
The attorneys launched the Afghan Resettlement Project this week.
The project, which will be made up of legal services providers, social services workers and policy makers, aims to create a plan to welcome and assist those arriving from Afghanistan while also continuing to work to get people who are still stuck in Afghanistan out of the country.
Still stuck in Afghanistan
It’s estimated that around 118,000 allied Afghans remain in the country and are looking to escape, according to Immigrant ARC.
Mackler said that one of the only options remaining for those wishing to leave is the legal route, which isn’t “designed to respond to humanitarian crisis moments.”
“We have our network of lawyers, and we're trying to bring in other voices that don't traditionally intersect with the nonprofit space, such as business-based immigration lawyers and others, to sort of really examine all potential options to use the legal immigration system to bring individuals who are currently abroad [to the U.S.],” Mackler said.
Farida Karimi, a Fresh Meadows resident, has been working to get her sister and several other relatives out of Kabul for the past month.
Karimi and her son, Mohammad, contacted several lawmakers in the weeks leading up to the Biden Administration’s Aug. 31 deadline for evacuations. The family had little success in getting an elected official to come to their aid.
“We kept trying to talk with all of them and contact them but no one gave us any response,” Karimi said. “We’re very hopeless right now. We just pray.”
Karimi’s sister, who’s name is being withheld for safety reasons, is the principal of an all-girl’s school in Kabul and could potentially face reprisal from the Taliban, who overthrew the U.S.-backed Afghan government last month, for her work, Karimi said.
Karimi has been able to speak with her sister, who has barely left her home in the past month, every day. However, she worries that soon the Taliban might limit internet access even more than they already have.
It's very scary that they’re going to do that,” she said. “It's hard for the people to get contact with their families and loved ones.”
On Thursday, around 200 people, including some Americans, left Afghanistan on the first flight out of the country since the U.S. stopped its evacuations, the AP reported.
With the Taliban monitoring the tarmac, the Qatar Airways flight could potentially not be the last out of the country.
However, Karimi still doesn’t know what the future holds for her relatives trapped in her home country.
“I feel very confused about everything,” she said. “We’re hoping for better days.”
