Across the world, all are hearing updates about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. After just shy of 20 years of active military involvement, the US has begun pulling out of the country - ceding it to the Afghan people, and ultimately, a Taliban power grab. This has resulted in thousands of US and Afghan citizens needing to evacuate the country in fear of Taliban retaliation. This very layered and unique circumstance has emotions running high for many, and concerns for immediate safety and plans for the future will all need to be addressed. This issue affects many far beyond Afghan borders. In fact, we even see its impacts here in the DMV.
Mariam Mustafa and her family arrived in the United States in 1982 after fleeing the Soviet-Afghan War and took deep roots in the DMV area as US citizens. After witnessing the tragedies of war and experiencing the fear of needing to escape one's homeland, Ms. Mustafa founded Afghans of DC as a way to engage and assist the local Afghan community. Today, the mission of Afghans of DC has grown to encompass aiding Afghan diaspora to arrange family member evacuations from Afghanistan. Ms. Mustafa shared that she has been in contact with members of the State Department and Pentagon as she reaches for answers that will ensure the safety of families.
Her actions are not fueled by simple altruism or detached concern however, but rather by hardened experience and personal connection. Ms Mustafa, like many others, has family members directly impacted by the situation in Afghanistan. Her aunt and cousin are still trapped in Afghanistan, along with thousands of other Afghans and Americans desperately seeking a path to safety in the face of Taliban encroachment.
What many are finding is that as danger and confusion mounts, evacuation instructions are often becoming unclear. After receiving evacuation orders and driving many miles under hazardous circumstances, Ms Mustafa's cousin went from gate to gate at Camp Sullivan with her seventy-year-old mother in tow seeking their arranged flight. After persevering so long, they found themselves turned away in the midst of a crowd of over 5000 Afghan and US citizens now told that they were unable to leave the country. They were simply told to go home.
But home is becoming increasingly unsafe. For Ms Mustafa's cousin, there is no safety net in place. Her cousin worked for a large US taxpayer funded contracting company focused on infrastructure development, yet any progress made has now come to nothing in the midst of a city filled with unrest. In the wake of the US withdrawal, this company dissolved its presence in Afghanistan, leaving hundreds of newly unemployed citizens to fend for themselves as the Taliban resumed power.
So what can be done to help locally? As refugees flee Afghanistan, please support organizations that aid evacuation, share your voice as an ally for refugee protection and relocation, and patronize the businesses of local Afghan diaspora. Much of the financial burden of relocation will fall on the Afghan-American community as they seek to settle and integrate their refugee family members here in the US. Special care and consideration should be extended to our neighbors as we work to protect and heal affected families.