Afghan Refugees Arriving In The United States: An Update

Boise, Idaho, is one of many communities bracing for a surge of Afghan arrivals. The small city is preparing to welcome 58 Afghan refugees, and southern Idaho’s refugee center in Twin Falls expects another 50 in the next few weeks.

Brown University’s Watson Institute, an expert on refugee issues, notes that thousands of Afghans have arrived in the United States since the emergency evacuation of their country began in early to mid-August.

Most have entered America through Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. Many who helped the United States since 2001 have applied for or had in hand a United States humanitarian visa, popularly called a special immigrant visa (SIV).

President Biden in mid-August said Washington hoped to evacuate 50,000 Afghan allies before last month’s deadline for United States withdrawal from Kabul’s international airport. It’s now controlled by Taliban forces who took over the country by a previously set deadline, August 31.

Actual arrivals have so far been roughly estimated at more than 25,000. Others who had sought to emigrate remain in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, except a few who were able to flee to neighboring South or Central Asian countries.

What lies ahead for Afghans who did succeed in reaching the United States?

Many of the new arrivals have been allowed to enter the United States through what is termed “a humanitarian parole.”  Local civilian communities and some United States military bases are housing the refugees for now.

How to aid the arriving Afghan refugees

A retired US army lieutenant colonel who served two tours in Afghanistan recently wrote a moving account in the September 8 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

David Rinsand describes his experience with Afghan hosts over two decades and the necessity now of helping their Afghan countrymen and women now arriving in America:

“The evacuees coming here are probably never going back, and likely, have come here with nothing.  I can’t imagine how it would feel to flee my home forever with just the shirt on my back and part of my family with me, if I had been lucky enough to get them out.

“Now, at the end of a long 20 years, I am glad to see we can help them begin to recover their lives in a new country.

“Many Americans are already doing so. I implore other readers to trust the intentions of arriving Afghans, as they trusted ours: invite them to share in our culture; be sensitive to their culture, as they were to ours, and protect them from ill-treatment, as they protected us.

“Let’s not forget that Afghans and Americans have worked together successfully before, continue to do so, and will again.”