Afghan New Yorker reunited with his family after their evacuation from Kabul
Last month, when the Taliban seized control of Kabul, Mohammad Wali didn’t know if he’d see his wife and children ever again.
What You Need To Know
Wali first spoke last month to NY1 about his family trying to leave Afghanistan
Two of Wali's children are U.S. citizens
His wife and children were evacuated from Afghanistan with help from Rep. Tom Suozzi
Immigrant advocacy groups preparing to help others who may not have family in the U.S.
Speaking exclusively to NY1 at the time, Wali said having his family stranded in Afghanistan was taking a toll.
“I’m in very bad stress and I don’t have sleep for my family,” he said on Aug. 16.
But now with the help of Rep. Tom Suozzi’s office and after their harrowing escape by airlift, Wali’s family reunited with him in New York.
They’re finally home, Wali told NY1 at his restaurant in Manhattan.
“When you have your family, you have life, you have light in your house," he said. "Before my house was dark, now I have light in my house."
The scramble to get of out Afghanistan as U.S. troops finished their withdrawal was a frightening ordeal for Wali’s children, two of whom are U.S. citizens.
Suozzi describe the chaos at the airport in Kabul: “Scary environment. It’s beating heat. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Meet at a certain time with a red bandana. Gunfire in the background.”
And while Wali’s family is together, other Afghan evacuees and refugees who have arrived or are arriving either here or to other parts of the country are at different stages of their resettlement journey.
Immigrant advocates, particularly in upstate New York, have been arranging resources from legal services to housing.
“To me, this story is a New York story,” said Camille Mackler, executive director of the group Immigrant Arc. “We are – our history, our past, our future are so tied to what has happened in Afghanistan for the last 20 years and how we move forward from this. Since August 14, we have been working around the clock.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says that as of late Tuesday, 60,000 people evacuated from Afghanistan have arrived to the United States.
About 10,000 of them are U-S citizens or permanent residents.
The bulk are at-risk Afghans, including those with visas, and most are currently being housed on U.S. military bases.
Advocates want more personnel at these sites, which include Fort Dix in New Jersey.
“Casework staff, welfare-related staff, social work staff to be able to come on,” said Yael Schacher, senior U.S. advocate at Refugees International. “And one of our suggestions is actually to have Afghan Americans who can provide children and elderly people who may be there with the special services they need in language and culturally sensitive ways.”
