Afghan refugees headed to Memphis
As soon as next week, new refugees from Afghanistan are expected to arrive in Memphis and more Afghans are expected to arrive for the next several months, said PJ Moore, director of the Christian refugee resettlement agency World Relief Memphis.
The numbers are relatively small: 36 people during the first few months, he said. But he said each of the newcomers will require heavy support and orientation to get through the early days in the new country, to find work and in some cases, to learn English.
Eleven of the new arrivals are being admitted in the “special immigrant visa” category, which qualifies them for federal aid including money for food and other support.
An additional 25 people are being admitted as parolees, which means that they arrive without that support. To stay in the United States, they will have to apply for political asylum, which can prove a long and difficult process that can involve filing forms, gathering evidence and appearing in court.
On Thursday, the mayors of Memphis and Shelby County joined Moore to announce at a news conference in Memphis that they will work with World Relief Memphis to provide some of the necessary services to those refugees who don’t yet qualify for federal aid.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the city government has signed a contract with World Relief to assist with workforce development training and language training.
“These families have been forced to flee their home country because their lives were at risk for assisting us,” Strickland said, “for assisting American troops in their home country. It is our duty, our responsibility, as Americans, to lend a helping hand to those who risked their lives to help us.”
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said the county government will work with nonprofit groups to provide housing and other assistance to refugees generally, particularly for refugees from Afghanistan.
“These families have been forced to flee their home country because their lives were at risk for assisting us for assisting American troops in their home country. It is our duty, our responsibility, as Americans, to lend a helping hand to those who risked their lives to help us.” — MEMPHIS MAYOR
JIM STRICKLAND
“Our faith teaches us that we should give aid to the most vulnerable,” Harris said.
World Relief is also fundraising money to pay immigration lawyers to represent the refugees who will need to file asylum claims.
Many Afghans fled the country following the withdrawal of American troops, the collapse of the U.S.-trained Afghan military and the rapid takeover by the Taliban. Many Afghans supported the United States military or other western organizations as interpreters or other workers, and many now fear retaliation from the Taliban.
One speaker at the news conference was Saifodeen Andesh, who grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, and fled the country as a refugee. He said World Relief helped make his transition to Memphis much easier, and he now volunteers with the agency.
The Taliban leaders have made reassuring statements that they won’t take revenge against people who helped the United States, but Andesh is also hearing accounts of them killing people and hunting for enemies.
The New York Times recently reported this too, describing “growing reports of detentions, disappearances and even executions of officials at the hands of the Taliban, in what some current and former government officials describe as a covert and sometimes deadly pursuit of the Taliban’s enemies.”
Moore said the resettlement agency is looking for help from individuals, companies or organizations that can rent apartments or single-family housing to refugees who lack a credit history in the United States. The organization is also looking for donations of items to furnish new housing as well as financial donations.