SEATTLE — Nonprofits across Washington are already working to accommodate Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban’s regime. A woman we’re calling “Ameri” fears the best hope for her Afghan people may now be outside of her native country.
“Right now I don’t have any hope left inside my heart,” said Ameri.
The threat of the Taliban is still very real, even for refugees who have already made it to the U.S., explained Ameri, who came to the states as a refugee four years ago.
Today, Ameri is a full-time student and although she once planned to return to Afghanistan with a degree, she said she no longer believes that can happen.
“My mission is to support my people who are coming out here,” she continued.
Ameri volunteers for the Refugee Women's Alliance, a Seattle-based nonprofit, and said since the Afghan government fell to the Taliban she has been inundated with calls and emails from people in her native country trying to get out.
She said her heart breaks for the women, especially.
“They were so happy because of their freedom. And they got this freedom only for a few years. But within like one week all the freedom is gone. Nobody is out there. The streets are empty, women are so scared,” she said.
Many people fleeing Afghanistan will seek refuge in the U.S. The U.S. government is preparing for some 22,000 refugees that could be arriving in the coming weeks.
“All of this is very personal for me. This is a war that I fought in and led. I know the country. I know the people, and I know those who fought alongside me," said Lloyd J. Austin, the U.S. Secretary of Defense. “We have a moral obligation to help those who helped us. And I feel the urgency deeply."
It's an urgency that's fueled by chaos as the Afghan government quickly dissolved, clearing a path for Taliban fighters.
“No one was expecting, this much sooner, that they can take Afghanistan, it was a big surprise for us. Nobody was ready for this,” Ameri said.
The U.S. Immigration system wasn’t prepared either and will continue to be pushed to its limit as the number of refugees is only expected to increase.
According to DSHS’s Office of Refugee and Immigration Assistance, 150 people, in the first two weeks of August, have received Special Immigration Visas and are already safely on the ground in Washington state.
