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Afghan Refugees Risked Their Lives but are Frustrated by Resettlement in US
Mohammad Naseer Yasini sat alone in a North Kansas City apartment and recalled life under the Taliban.
Mohammad Naseer Yasini, his 6-month-old daughter, Mehria Yasini, and Mohammad Haroon Naimi are living in North Kansas City. (KEITH MYERS | The Kansas City Star) At that time, he never imagined he would one day work for American soldiers.
He was young, still a boy then, but his memories remain clear. It was a stressful time in Afghanistan, he said. Few people had jobs or other opportunities. He smiled a little ruefully.
"Something like my life here," said Yasini, 29. "When I have a job, I'll say then I am happy."
Yasini arrived in Kansas City last month and is one of the hundreds of Iraqis and Afghans who move to the United States on a special immigrant visa after serving alongside American troops in their home countries. The visa was created specifically for those whose lives have been threatened because of their work for U.S. forces.
But many of these refugees do not feel special. They arrive here reliant on nonprofit social service agencies and become ensnared in the red tape of securing federal resettlement assistance for housing, employment and health care. They often find they cannot resume the professional careers they once held or had planned in their native countries.
What federal resettlement benefits they do receive expire in six months for Afghans and eight months for Iraqis, a small time frame to start a new life in a new country that they had risked their lives for, said Bob Carey, vice president for resettlement and migration policy for the International Rescue Committee.
"They are essentially dumped here," Carey said. "They are not getting shot or killed, but they are not getting the resources they need. It's comparable to American veterans not receiving the services they need. We're not serving well those who suffered on behalf of the United States."
A special visa applicant must have worked directly with U.S. armed forces as a translator for a period of at least 12 months, have obtained a favorable recommendation from a general or a commissioned officer, and have cleared a background check and screening required on a case-by-case basis.
At least 264 interpreters serving troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were killed from 2003 to 2008 - targeted by militias, assassins and kidnappers. The seriously wounded add up to 403.
According to the State Department, 500 special immigrant visas for interpreters are available this fiscal year. Since 2006, when the special visa for interpreters was created, 1,735 applications have been approved.
In Kansas City, Jewish Vocational Services has resettled 26 Afghans since 2000 and 412 Iraqis since 1997. In recent years, more and more of these refugees have worked for U.S. armed forces.
"Some of the problems they have when they get here are usually around a delay in getting their documents," said Jewish Vocational Services employment coordinator Abdul Bakar. "Their expectations are so high, especially with well-qualified people, that they get frustrated. They tell me: ‘For this we sacrificed against our own people?' "
Yasini, 29, grew up in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and studied law. After a U.S.-led military coalition entered Kabul in 2001, Yasini continued his studies but also applied to be an interpreter for the U.S. Army. He was hired and stationed at the Kabul Military Training Center, where the new Afghan National Army trained. He worked as an interpreter from 2003 to 2008, and his pay averaged between $350 and $420 a month.
As the security situation began to deteriorate in the face of a revitalized Taliban insurgency, Yasini decided to leave.- Posted in
9 Comments so far
Show AllI just want any of the people who have experianced this type of situation, helping the U.S. in their country and having to move here because of threats etc. from in their own country, that I am thinking of them. I am hopeful that they will find security and success in this country. I also hope they find friends and neighbors which will help them feel like this is a home.
I do hope that with the economic and environmental issues we are facing here, that they are still able to manage a good life. We need to all work together to make this world one in which everyone can live a happy, peaceful and meaningful life.
Welcome to America! We like stupid people with English sounding names. Ain't it great? If you look funny or have too much edumacation, we don't like yo kind around here.
Don't worry. There are plenty of other Americans with foreign sounding names who have way too much education who can't get a job either. I'm one of them. I think it's our fascination with stupidity and fear of foreigners. I'm not really sure.
Why are they being resettled in Kansas where there are no Afghan-Americans? If they were resettled in the existing Afghan-American communities such as Fremont, California or Springfield, Virginia they would have more of a support network of fellow Afghan immigrants. They'd have better access to Afghan-American food stores, social services, and other types of support already existing within the Afghan-American communities. Aside from the obvious fact that Kansas is a heavily Republican state and tended to be very pro-war on Afghanistan and not exactly Muslim friendly.
Its a convoluted attempt at 'integration' like the Somalis in Minnesota ! Our guilt makes us over-compensate, without any rational explanation to support it. In a perfect world we would yank all the zionists out of israel and stick them in upstate New York where they seem to flourish !
they should all be made wards of the state along with the octo-mom and her brood.
We spend trillions of $$$ on contemptuous bank executives and dont bat an eyelid but octo-mom gets to bear the brunt of public ire. Americans are stupid.
The good news is that this Afghan being an interpreter at least can speak English and I hope he gets the support he needs having left a country that has been to hell and back for over 20 years.
He is going to experience culture shock being in such a different country and I agree with the writer who suggested that these persons should be relocated were there already exists a Afghan group of people.
This big melting pot of USA has such pockets of people who are likeminded. I also hope that this young man can educate the rest of us about his culture and all of the complexities -- he should be hired by the local army base to educate those US soldiers who have to go over to his country so that they can speak some words and know as much as possible about the geography, foods, culture etc.
I hope for him and that he does well.
I just read the original article in the Kansas City paper and there were MANY really helpful and not bigoted comments. They are also holding a special dinner with native food for Iraqi and Afghan people on March14
5:30 to 7:00pm
at Community Christian Church, 4601 Main, KCMO
I will call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 on Monday and recommend that people like this Afghan interpreter from 2002 to 2008 should be given the opportunity to work with State Department and also US military in our country right now and teach them how to read and speak the Afghan languages and also culture. He should be hired immediatly!. Call the Capitol Switchboard and talk to the Kansas Senators: at 202-225-3123
Thank you Common Dream for publishing this article.
The United States is NOTHING if not a nation that USES UP PEOPLE.
it USES UP americans, it USES up immigrants who THOUGHT , from american propaganda abroad about the "great society" it is a just society and humane society, it USES up OTHER countries and THEIR citizens.
USA is exposing itself more and more to be nothing more and less than CONSUMES everything in sight, including the planet, futures and lives and resources , and spits them out in a cloud of destruction , pollution, corruption.
one is inclined to think that however one IS an american or resident or anything CONNECTED to the USA ....for one reason or another ....
the USA should NEVER have been born to begin with.
imo -- it will disintegrate as a society -- and in a bad, bad way--- out of its own nature of mendacity.
whatever americans think of themselves...and they are perhaps generally individually decent as anyone else....it is the ENTITY of being AMERICA -- the CONCEPT and "idea" of america that is its own greatest path towards it own self-destruction and disintegration -- for that SUPPOSED "noble idea" is also ITS justification for its unparalleled MENDACITY and HYPOCRISY.
i don't think it will end well...