GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — There are now 100 Afghan refugees in the Green Bay area. That milestone was reached this week. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Green Bay is the organization helping them get established in the area.
The United States left Afghanistan last August after nearly 20 years of war in the central Asian nation. As troops pulled back, the Afghan Army American soldiers spent years training collapsed in the face of a Taliban advance, and the support staff that helped our troops for years now found themselves enemies of the new Islamic Emirate. Abdullah was a child when the United States first invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. He spent years working with the occupation, and says leaving the country made for a miserable experience.
“It was horrible,” Abdullah said Friday. “I had to leave Afghanistan in the worst situation. I couldn’t even say goodbye to my family.”
He found himself trapped at Kabul Airport as the Taliban closed in.
“I was stuck in my unit, we were not allowed to visit our families,” Abdullah told WTAQ. “I got to see my family for five minutes on the day I was supposed to leave, but it was all crying and moaning.”
Even after leaving the airport, the misery continued.
“I didn’t come straight to the United States. I went to Germany, and I was stuck there for two months, and in Germany, it was horrible,” recalled Abdullah, his voice cracking. “Not getting enough food, it was not human treatment.”
Abdullah is one of 100 refugees that are being resettled in the Green Bay area. While he was trapped at the airport, another future Green Bayer, who worked at Kabul Airport, also found himself on lockdown, and separated from his family.
“The Taliban said, ‘those who worked with the US Government or any foreign country, we will punish them or even kill them,’” Ali recalled. “So everyone was nervous inside the airport. Also me.”
Ali has no idea where his family may be.
“I left my family. I came alone. It is really tough for me because my family is in danger still in Afghanistan,” said Ali. “I am here and they are somewhere hiding.”
We’re not publishing any photos or videos of Ali or Abdullah. We’re not providing anything more specific than their names–both of them very common in the Islamic world. We’re not doing that for a very good reason: the Taliban are reportedly scouring the Internet, looking for refugees who left in order to connect them back to loved ones who are still in Afghanistan.
“I don’t know how they know, but they don’t want anyone working with the US or any foreign government. They say it’s not good,” said Ali.
Here in the United States, things are different–and it’s been quite the change.
“The US Marines and everyone who has helped us during this process, they treat us with respect and are good to everyone, like, friendly,” Ali added.
For Abdullah, there’s just one thing he doesn’t like.
“The only bad thing about here is the cold weather,” Abdullah laughed. “Other than that? Great. Especially the people. Very nice people.”
Both say they’ve been welcomed with open arms in Brown County, and both have plans for the future. Ali wants to seek education.
“I want to be an educated person. I want to be a helpful person, and I want my family by my side,” said Ali. “Everyone needs their family by their sides. That’s what I need.”
I asked Abdullah what he hopes for himself in five years.
“Prosperity. Success. I want to help myself and my family, and my community,” Abdullah replied.
Around 120 refugees are expected to come to the area, and 100 are already here. It’s created a community, one that Sayed Wardak finds refreshing. He’s been in the United States for six years, and was an interpreter for the US Military.
“I am so happy for them,” Wardak told reporters on Friday. “And now I have community here. It used to be that I was just by myself.”
Wardak now works with the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Green Bay as an interpreter in Pashto and Dari, the two most widely spoken languages in Afghanistan.
Of the refugees, 22 of them have already secured employment, and many are already in permanent housing.