Ghani and Sadiqa are in the airport

Ghani arrived safely in Kabul after a harrowing journey. He met up with family there, we rushed through getting everyone’s details submitted to the various agencies and offices and then after waiting a bit because of a security threat, they went to the Airport.

This is a super quick update….

Photo from Kabul Airport by Sima – I believe Isa is in the back walking and talking with the soldier.

The other 7 or more members of Ghani’s family were not allowed through the gate, so they are in Kabul and we are working on helping them, but there isn’t all that much we can do.

Our friend Mujda is still trying to reach one of the gates at the airport and having a horrible time. There are at least 2 articles about her saga in our local paper, The Morning Call.

Arif’s siblings are stuck – the Australians pulled out right before the first explosion so we don’t know what to do to help them.

Hedayat’s family still haven’t received any documentation for them to go to the airport, and hope of them getting out is dwindling.

The SIV family from California did get out – just the mom dad and kids – they all had green cards or us passports – the rest of their family could not get out. But at least the Habib family are safe in Qatar. And we will give them some guidance on how to help the rest of the family, assuming they can get out of Afghanistan.

We are hearing from more folks who should qualify for SIV or who have applied and are waiting for something they can present at the airport so that they can get out. Or who have something but haven’t been able to get into the airport.

The military have volunteers from all over helping to follow up on requests, but they are way behind. We got a call (I don’t remember when it was exactly, but recently) about Roshan. I said Roshan is out and safe in Germany, but we have all these other people who are not, so that person is working on helping too. We just keep sending requests for assistance to all the emails we get.

Arif’s friends – the young couple with the baby who are SIV (the new mom was an interpreter, dad is a journalist) have been taken by Embassy bus to the airport every day for the past 4 days but have been unable to even get off the bus because of the Taliban. So after sitting in the bus all day, they are returned home, I guess. Then they try again the next day. We are running out of time to keep doing things that don’t work!

We have heard from Shegufa in Germany – she and Roshan’s sisters are in a hanger filled with cots. Roshan and his young brother are in a tent somewhere we assume nearby. Roshan doesn’t have wifi so is having trouble communicating. But at least they are safe and soon (we have no idea when) they will be in the US. A photo of Shegufa’s digs are below.

We are starting to get all the info together for the folks who are left behind to get registered with Human Rights Watch and various US govt offices so that if they can make it to a place that has a US Embassy, we can start the paperwork to get them here. Evidently, there are systems in place to facilitate that now. The hard part is just getting to a US Embassy.

So I have repeated my message already too many times to the never ending stream of anguished requests – without a us passport or green card or approved visa, we can’t get you out via Kabul. You have to stay safe and when possible, get yourself and family to Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, etc. Once there, we can process the paperwork to have you come to the USA.

Yes, we know that it is very dangerous there and we know that right now there is no safe way to get out of Afghanistan. It doesn’t matter how many letters you have from USA companies or government officials… they just won’t let you in the airport and it is unsafe there too.

The banks are not open nor is Western Union, so people are out of money for food and other necessities.

We hope things will start to improve soon. And we will keep you informed!

Thank all of your for your continued prayers and support!