Afghan recalls chaotic escape
Wafa, family flee Kabul for new life in Austin
AUSTIN, Texas – Outside the perimeter of the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Matiullah Wafa said he was surrounded by thousands of people in panic. Soldiers guarded the airport gates and, with thousands of people rushing to get inside, they were desperate to control the crowd.
For 20 hours, Wafa stood outside the airport with his wife and two young children, which he described as like standing in a battlefield. He said when the crowd would swarm, the soldiers would fire gunshots into the air and throw canisters of gas that burned their eyes. Wafa’s family didn’t have much with them, so they tried to find anything they could to protect their children from the gas.
“When we got to the airport it was chaos, because anytime they would open the gates there would be a rush of people and it was first-come, firstserve,” he said through an interpreter. “We stood outside of the airport barriers for about 20 hours, and while we were there, we saw two women and three children that were trampled. I didn’t want my children and wife to get hurt, so we just waited.”
Wafa, who worked as a security guard for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, was attempting to flee last month with his wife and two children, fearing the Taliban would kill him.
The family of four was supposed to leave Aug. 22, but just days before, the Taliban took over the city, forcing their flight to be rescheduled.
When the Taliban took over, Wafa said the family had already left their home because it was known that he worked for the American government. For about a week, he said they hid at his sister’s house, avoiding telling anyone where they were.
“I didn’t want anyone to know where I had gone or where I was going,” he said. “And, at that point, you cannot trust anyone, so we hid.”
He said the embassy sent an email to its employees saying that if they could get to the airport, they would be given boarding passes. Knowing they needed to get out, Wafa said they then headed to the airport. His brother-in-law dropped the family off.
Wafa said they were camped outside the airport perimeter when it started to rain. He gathered his wife, who has asked to remain anonymous out of fear, and their children – 6-year-old Mustafa and 4-year-old Mahsa – and tried to enter through the British side of the airport.
He said once they got inside, everything at the airport was closed, and there was nothing for them to eat. Every inch of the airport was filled with people, leaving no place to rest. So the family found a place on the ground to sit together and waited two days before they boarded their flight.
Their first flight took them to Abu Dhabi, where they spent a week and were tested for the coronavirus. They then flew to Washington, D.C., and eventually landed in Austin, Texas.
With nothing but a backpack filled with an extra change of clothes, the Wafa family arrived in Austin nearly a month ago. They are one of several Afghan families arriving in the city after the fall of Afghanistan in August.
Officials from Refugee Services of Texas plan to resettle 324 Afghans in the next few weeks in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and Austin, among the thousands to be resettled nationwide.
Refugee Services of Texas helps them resettle into a home, get them a Social Security card, and connects them with other services that provide job training, help them learn English, help them get food and other needs.
But with limited housing options available, finding a place for families to live has been a challenge. And during the pandemic, some of the government systems, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, have been backlogged, causing delays.
Local organizations have stepped in to help fill those gaps and help families adjust to their new life.
Wafa, who speaks very little English, said he had a Southeast Austin apartment lined up before he arrived, thanks to a friend who has lived here for five years. His friend set the family up with the unit and also provided them with a rug, kitchen table, a TV and helped pay the first month’s rent.
The nonprofit Muslim Community Support Services aids refugees all year long, but over the last several weeks it has been filling the needs of families who have recently fled Afghanistan.
Diane Kanawati, board president for Muslim Community Support Services, said lately that has meant providing food vouchers, setting up internet service and equipping the families with car seats and furniture.
The nonprofit provided the Wafa family with pots, pans, dishes and a sofa. The family was using food vouchers and help from other Muslim community members to eat until last week when their SNAP benefits kicked in.
Last week, the family took a few walks together so they would know how to get to school. The children were given school supplies, backpacks and other school needs to prepare them for their first day, which was expected to be this week.
While Wafa said they are grateful to have gotten out of Kabul, he said the last several weeks have been stressful. The couple are worried about their family back home, and Wafa said his wife is very lonely.
Celia VanDeGraaf, executive director for the Center for Survivors of Torture in Texas, said when families arrive here it is a culture shock and that the change can be especially hard on women and children, particularly because most of them do not speak English.
The nonprofit provides a range of free services to refugees from all over the world, including arranging for legal help and medical care. But VanDeGraaf said their main focus has been on providing mental health services aimed at helping clients cope and be culturally competent through meditation and yoga classes as well as resource groups.
Wafa said that, on top of the stress and concern for their families back home, he has also been worried about finding work and being able to support his family. In Kabul, he worked as a security guard for 14 years in a supervisory position. But here, he will have to start all over.
“We are very sad about what is happening back home,” Wafa said. “We are doing OK, and we’ve only been here a short time, but we are adjusting.”