Afghan Refugees

Why did they become refugees?

After 40 years of a power struggle between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government, on August 15, 2021 the Taliban invaded Afghan’s capital overthrowing the Afghan government, forcing the ​​Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and millions of Afghan citizens to flee the country. As a result, “24 million Afghans are in need of humanitarian assistance” and 6 million Afghans were removed from their homes (UNHCR).

The Afghan refugees make up “one of the largest refugee populations worldwide[,]” with nearly 2.6 million seeking refuge from foreign countries (UNHCR). Though this number seems large enough, the population keeps increasing as Afghan’s environment is unstable. In California only, 4,000 to 5,000 out of 15,0000 expected Afghan refugees are “expected to settle locally” (Rojas). More than 2 million Afghans are forced to cross borders and live as refugees “across 98 different countries” (UNHCR).

For a while Afghan families were facing a lack of education, poverty, sex trafficing, and much more. Children, considerably between ages 15-25 years, “account for up to 70 percent of Afghanistan’s estimated population of 29 million.Background areas that have been building up to create more problems for the Afghan refugees” (Bose). These children lack education and proper childhood as they face war and terrorism in their country. As much as their childhood memories are important their health is much more crucial. However, “statistics show that 35% of newborns are underweight. Even today, 87% of deliveries take place in the pregnant mother’s home and usually with no proper medical assistance” (Humanium). Despite how precious these young children are, only 60 percent of the population are provided education and 28 percent of adults are illiterate. The rest of the children who aren’t sent to school follow their family members to work. Some of the jobs children are exposed to include “[s]treet vendors, water carriers, cardboard collectors, shoe polishers, taxi solicitors, domestic servants, [and] assistants in boutiques” (Humanium). Unfortunately, these problems don’t just stay in Afghanistan but carry over as refugees move to different countries.

Difficulties Migrating to the United States and California:

Afghan refugees have two main ways to enter the U.S. The first is the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. First the applicant has to register with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR collects documents and performs screenings. Refugees who have qualified go to the State Department Resettlement Support Center (RSC). The RSC interviews the applicant, verifies their personal data, and submit their information for background checks by a suite of U.S. national security agencies. The security check includes biometric screenings, cross-checks of global fingerprints through their databases, and a medical test. In order for the applicant to be allowed entry into the U.S. they cannot have a criminal history, past immigration violations, connections to terrorist groups, or communicable diseases. This process usually takes 18-24 months.

Another system that is used to let Afghan refugees enter the U.S. is for them to fill out a parole application. This lets U.S. officials authorize the entry of Afghan immigrants without visas on urgent humanitarian grounds. Since the program began in July of 2021, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received about 46,000 applications. The USCIS is unable to keep up with the amount of applications that have to be read through. The USCIS can only handle reviewing 2,000 applications per year. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this is because the parole application is not meant to substitute the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Because of that only 5,000 have been fully reviewed. A total of 297 requests were approved, while 4,246 requests were denied. The USCIS has a very strict acceptance policy. In order for an application to be accepted the applicant must have an immediate family member of U.S. citizens or residents, former Kabul embassy staff, special immigrant visa applicants, immediate relatives of Afghans who relocated to the U.S. last year, or others who face serious, targeted harm. Even with all those strict acceptance requirements, if an applicant gets approved they have to travel to a third world country in order to undergo an interview. 70% of Afghan parole applicants are in Afghanistan making it hard to travel to a third world country for an interview.

Even with these two systems in place to help Afghanians flee Afghanistan, it is either too difficult to get accepted or the process takes too long to get approved. It is an inconvenience and does not help Afghans escape the problems they are facing.

Challenges of living in California:

Though there are great changes towards a better environment for Afghan refugees, unfortunately, most of the time the difficulties outweigh their benefits. Many refugees face poverty, lack of health, insufficient education, etc. However, out of all these challenges, Afghan refugees struggle as they try to maintain their lives in California.

One of the biggest difficulties the Afghan refugees face is a tough rental market. Rental market is the amount a certain rented property is “expected to bring in every month in rent” (Bitton). The struggles refugees face is the inability to suffice that expected amount, which signifies that many Afghan refugees could be constantly moving in and out of rented homes multiple times per week. Repeating this lifestyle not only is uncomfortable, but also very dangerous. Not having a stable shelter to stay in opens up to great challenges in adapting to life in a new place. Though Afghan refugees struggled with these circumstances throughout their refuge to California, the Afghan refugees’ environment and condition have generally improved. The U.S started to build “safe havens” where the Afghan refugees are offered food, accommodations, medical care (covid vaccines), and etc. There are no language barriers as this type of facility is offered in 40 languages which allows it to be flexible based on its needs. Here, Afghan refugees can remain until they can travel to find shelter and stability for resettlement.

However, these safe havens approached a limit, as explained in the article, Why Afghan Refugees Aren’t Actually Welcome in California, “Although a few refugees are being resettled in California - and with the affordability crisis, even that tiny number is struggling - the Golden State is no longer the haven for refugees that it once was” (Owens and Alameldin). This expresses the extreme urgency towards providing proper shelter and stability towards Afghan refugees who once depended on these safe havens for refuge. Addressing this, the Biden administration has been taking a stance to ensure that more homes are built for the Afghan refugees, but these long-term initiatives are not reliable enough to impact the immediate future.

What naturally follows such stressful environments is mental instability. In addition to instability in housing, Afghan refugees struggle with “language, economic and occupational problems” followed by “substantial challenges in psychological, family, social, and cultural adjustment to the United States” (Lipson and Omidian). The psychological effects Afghan refugees face actually tie into their problems with housing. Because the refugees don’t have a set environment to live in, not only makes it difficult to adjust, but also increases their mental stress in the process.

As more refugees move to states like California more organizations are starting to expand their work to support the incoming families. Some companies including, Benioff Children’s Hospital Foundation, CARE, and CityBridge work to serve the families to have a comfortable and safe life once they moved from their country. Some of the works that these organizations work towards a better and safer environment for the refugees to adapt to. For example, Beinoff Children’s Hospital Foundation works to provide healthcare for refugees families and checks in on their health, another company called CARE provides food and water, also healthcare, and education, even jobs, and lastly, CityBridge helps kids (specifically in Washignton DC) to strengthen their education. While fleeing to California has improved Afghan refugees' quality of life to a safe environment and a system that covers their basic needs, there are still challenges that they face: housing and mental health. To provide long-term housing for these refugees, we must look beyond temporary housing and safe havens. It is essential for us to take action; for instance, we can help Afghan refugees find jobs so that they can earn enough money for a stable income. After all, we want all refugees to have simpler and happier lives, not more miserable and stressful ones.