#Afghanistan refugees

[randomnoteforfuturereference]

Nothing like the Pakistani gov expelling Afghan refugees en masse back to a despotic country in the wake of a devastating earthquake and on the eve of an upcoming winter. All because of attacks on Pakistan from groups linked to said despotic regime that had been at the very least tacitly supported by the Pakistani gov.

Oh.. and a potential update to this (which has been coming as there are tensions between Iran and Afghanistan):

If you're wondering how to help Afghans, and discouraged by the fact that it'd be near impossible to convince these countries otherwise, International Rescue Foundation is probably the most practical source.

Otherwise, if you're American and in a blue/swing district, pressure your rep to push for the Afghan Adjustment Act and similar measures to help refugees get here and be supported. And even if you're in an area where appeals will fall on deaf ears due to racism/nativism/Islamophobia, there are refugee orgs nearby you can get involved with.

If you're not American, there are probably equivalent things that could be done.

[septembriseur]

“Somewhere in the Mediterranean water between Turkey and Italy, not so very far from the beach where the Benjamin memorial’s exit is barred by a pane of glass, death subjected Torpekai to a transformation.

Prior to her death, the apparatuses of NGO and state had investigated and deemed her life a bad investment. The qualities that would make her death grievable — her bravery and defiance, her intelligence, her successful career, her perceived vulnerability as a Muslim woman — were not considered, while she was still alive, to have any value.

Only at the instant of death did her life accrue value, at the moment when it ceased to make uncomfortable material demands. Grief, after all, costs us nothing. It is cheap and very convenient to mourn the dead.”

[ohwellokcomputer]

NBC cut away from her too quickly for her message to be clearly seen, but this is Manizha Talash of the Olympic Refugee Team in the breaking pre-qualifiers this morning

Under Taliban law, Afghan women are not permitted to dance in public or practice sport.

[reasonsforhope]

“America likes to tell a certain story about itself: It’s a safe haven, a place of refuge for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. It’s a story that history shows hasn’t always been true. But thankfully, it just got easier for Americans to take matters into their own hands and turn that aspiration into a reality.

The Biden administration on January 19 launched the Welcome Corps, a new program that will allow groups of Americans to directly sponsor refugees to resettle in their communities.

Whereas recent programs have focused on bringing over people from specific places — Afghanistan, Ukraine, Venezuela — this program makes it possible for private citizens to resettle people from any place in the world, so long as they are refugees as defined by the US Refugee Act.

Under the Welcome Corps program, you and a few of your friends can pool together funds to provide an immigration pathway that allows vulnerable people who may not otherwise be able to immigrate the ability to rebuild their lives in the US. Forming a private sponsor group involves bringing together at least five adults in your area and collectively raising $2,275 for each person you want to resettle in your community. With that money, sponsors commit to helping them through the first three months there, which can include securing and furnishing housing, stocking the pantry with food, supporting job hunts, and registering kids for school.

It’s a powerful way to improve life for the newcomers, granting them protection from persecution or violence in their country of origin, plus the chance to access health care, education, and socioeconomic opportunities. It can also improve life for everyone who’ll be in the newcomers’ orbit, including you and your neighbors. Research suggests welcoming refugees will likely benefit your community as a whole, for example by opening new businesses that revitalize neighborhoods. In Canada, a similar private sponsorship program has proven immensely popular and successful over the past decade.

But you might be thinking: Why should it fall to private citizens to fork over the cash, time, and energy to resettle refugees? Shouldn’t that be the government’s job?

...It’s a fair point: This is the government’s job. That’s why the advocacy groups that pushed for the Welcome Corps program insisted that any refugees who come to the US via private sponsorship should be in addition to the number of traditional, government-assisted resettlement cases.

The State Department has signaled that it agrees. This means that by sponsoring a refugee, you can play a role in allowing the US to take in more refugees overall. It really is additive.

And unlike prior programs for Afghans or Ukrainians, which were temporary, ad hoc responses to crises, the Welcome Corps is intended to be a permanent fixture. The hope is that it’ll complement the traditional resettlement process, which has been struggling for years.”

-via Vox, 1/27/23

[annasellheim]

I love you A

[good-old-gossip]

Today, nearly 76 million people across the globe — more than ever before — are internally displaced due to conflicts, violence or disasters. Millions were forced from their homes in Sudan and Gaza due to conflicts in 2023.

The total number of internally displaced people increased by 51% over the past five years across 116 countries. Conflict and violence caused a sharp increase in the number of displaced people in 2022 and 2023, adding to the millions already displaced in Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine.

[henk-heijmans]

Afghan refugee boys wrapped themselves in blankets to keep warm in the evening, Islamabad, Pakistan, 2012 - by Muhammed Muheisen (1981), Jordanian

[adropofhumanity]

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A former Canadian language and culture adviser who served NATO in Afghanistan filed a lawsuit at the end of July alleging the government has not allowed his family in Afghanistan to seek refuge in Canada.

That followed a case filed in May by two other former language and culture advisers who served in the Canadian military. They similarly accuse the government of insisting their families don’t qualify for programs bringing Afghan refugees to Canada.

They all accuse the government of offering advantages to Ukrainians that were not offered to Afghans hoping to escape the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[theupfish]

"As it stands, Sweden, Finland and Denmark already grant refugee status to all Afghan women seeking asylum, recognizing the severity of the persecution of women in Afghanistan - because of their gender."

[allwomenjointhe4bmovement]

How it started:

How it's going:

Immigrant men from a misogynistic country gang-r4ping a woman!? Who could've possibly seen this coming!?🤡

[avizou]

Pakistan is in the process of deporting 1.7 million Afghan refugees.

At least 60% of them are children born and raised in Pakistan, as Afghans have been seeking refuge within their southern neighbour's borders since the 1970s. Harrassment by Pakistani law enforcement has increased to unprecedented levels as they have started raiding refugee camps. People are held at newly constructed detention centers without transparency or access to legal representation.

Afghans are now being forced to return to a country ruled by a group that doesn't grant women equal rights and is aiming to establish a gender-apartheid state. Ethnic and religious minorities continue to suffer state-sanctioned violence. Among these refugees, journalists, former government employees and ISAF collaborators will all have to fear for their lives upon return.

Additionally, Afghanistan is facing a humanitarian crisis. Higher grain prices, an on-going draught and continued international sanctions are currently putting 20 million people at risk of a famine. Just recently, several magnitude 6 earthquakes killed over 3,000 and injured over 10,000 in the Western province Herat.

[semperardens-juli]

[...] I informed Saboor and offered to drive him and Pari to Kabul. I will never fully understand why he chose to instead walk his daughter from Shadbagh. Or why he allowed Abdullah to come along. Perhaps he was clinging to what little time he had left with his daughter. Perhaps he sought a measure of penance in the hardship of the journey. Or perhaps it was Saboor's pride, and he would not ride in the car of the man who was buying his daughter. But, in the end, there they were, the three of them, coated in dust, waiting, as agreed, near the mosque.

And The Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini (x)

leave a little kindness (x)

[annasellheim]

Hello!

If you sign up for my Patreon by Sunday, July 21st at ANY TIER (for as little as $1), I will send you some of my refugee students' comics in the mail! And if you sign up for my Patreon at a $10+ tier, you will get a button or sticker made by one of my students as well.

My Patreon charges per project, not monthly. You only get charged when i make a new zine (about 4 a year).

All profits of these zines go towards the student snack fund- help me feed my students!!!

t