Afghans you have generously helped continue to need assistance.
Since last August, Community Supported Film’s supporters have contributed over $43,000 to our Fund for Afghan Evacuation and Resettlement. CSFilm has distributed close to $45,000 and worked over 800 hours on this effort.
The situation for Afghans, including the families we are assisting, is unimaginably painful. World-wide inflation and food scarcity have hit Afghanistan and neighboring countries hard. The economies are systemically weak and further destabilized by western sanctions in Iran and Afghanistan. That is without even addressing the recent earthquake, flash-floods and historic drought.
We are hearing daily about the challenges facing the families we are assisting. One of our translators, a prominent human rights and democracy activist, Ahmed R., had escaped overland into Pakistan with his wife and two young children. He was unable to renew their visas and was expelled back into Afghanistan. His home in Kapisa Province has been searched multiple times by the Taliban, so his family hides at in-laws on the outskirts of Kabul. The stress is inconceivable – relying on others for safety, unable to work and stuck without a path out of Afghanistan.
CSFilm referred Ahmed’s case to the US Priority 2 (P2) program which was set up by Congress in August of 2021 to help Afghans like Ahmed. Our referral has been acknowledged by the US but cannot be processed until Ahmed is in a third country. Even if Ahmed could get into a neighboring country, a US Embassy must exist in that third country – which is not the case in Iran – and must be processing P2 referrals – which is not the case in Pakistan. CSFilm continues to actively engage with a coalition of organizations working to pressure the US and others in the international community to create viable alternatives for at-risk families like Ahmed’s.
Your funding allowed Ahmed to pay for Pakistan visas for his first exodus, and helped his family survive since last August.
We request your continued support for this family and seven others with similar stories in Afghanistan or neighboring countries. We are also supporting the processing of P2 referrals for 5 families waiting in limbo in Europe. These families are receiving basic financial assistance from their host country – but their situations are tenuous to say the least. We are contacted daily by Afghans looking for assistance. It is a very painful reality to face.
To end on a relatively positive note, seven families we were helping in August have, over the last 10 months, found other paths to safety. They are now in the US, UK, Spain, Germany, and Canada with varying degrees of hope for receiving permanent resettlement.
None of this work would have been possible without your generous support. I hope that I can continue to count on your generosity as we continue to help our Afghan colleagues reach safety and rebuild their lives.
Thank you for your concern and support,
Michael
More Information: Afghan Fund For Evacuation and Resettlement | Update by the Numbers
0 Comments