Welcoming Afghan Refugees Is One Of The Most Meaningful Tasks In My 20 Years Of Humanitarian Work

Kent Annan For 16 days, I was on a US military base in Virginia helping Afghan guests through the initial stages of resettlement. They are among tens of th...

Kent AnnanFor 16 days, I was on a US military base in Virginia helping Afghan guests through the initial stages of resettlement. They are among tens of thousands of people who recently arrived in our country after escaping Afghanistan with their lives, though not from trauma.I sat at a small table and said with intentional, word-by-word sincerity that I felt every time: “Welcome. I can’t imagine how hard this has been, but I’m glad you and your family are safe. We’re very glad you’re here.”During initial interviews, these Afghan guests told me their stories. I heard about loved ones lost, children left behind, parents who couldn’t make the journey, beatings and gunshot wounds. I cried at the end of a long day more than once.As part of a multi-agency team working on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Allies Welcome, I helped process nearly 6,000 arriving Afghans, the majority of whom worked for the U.S. on its Afghanistan mission or would have been at risk as journalists or human rights activists. This operation is an all-hands-on-deck effort, with people across agencies and organizations working around the clock for these Afghan guests.But in many respects, the work of receiving the Afghan guests has only just begun. Operation Allies Welcome is a good start, but we still have a long way to go.Many people are giving themselves tirelessly to help welcome these vulnerable Afghans. I saw soldiers working as quickly as possible to provide food, shelter and safety. Barracks became family living quarters. Military officials and staff from the Centers for Disease Control, Homeland Security and the State Department worked together to coordinate and organize everything from health screenings to security vetting, which includes strict, thorough biographic and biometric background checks. Alongside government employees were humanitarians quickly adapting years of expertise to this new setting, process and timeline.I will always remember the people we helped. I interviewed large families in which only the father was literate. I had conversations in perfect English with Afghans who had saved U.S. soldiers from deadly IED attacks and then barely made it to the airport to leave the country. I ate Afghan rice with translators for U.S. special forces who had secured safe passage to the U.S. several years ago.I watched girls draw with crayons to occupy themselves during the long interviews with their families. If these girls had not gotten out, they may never have learned to read or write. Now, it won’t be surprising if in 20 years one of these girls grows up to found a tech startup that helps to transform our lives and employ many fellow Americans. Nearly half of Fortune 500 companies, after all, were founded by immigrants or their children.I’ve spent more than 20 years doing humanitarian-related work in different parts of the world, and these 16 days were among my most intense and meaningful.I tell my Wheaton College graduate students and alums, 13 of whom also deployed with me, that it’s like stepping onto holy ground when we serve people in humanitarian crises who are enduring their most vulnerable moments. The past two decades since 9/11 have been riddled with costly mistakes in Afghanistan. But Operation Allies Welcome, as I have seen it firsthand, has been an incredible effort.Now, as Afghans start to move off bases to resettle, we must continue the welcome.First, Congress needs to secure the resources for resettlement and a clear legal path ahead for Afghans. They shouldn’t be left in limbo for political gamesmanship or lack of commitment. They should be provided a way to become thriving, contributing members of our communities across the country.Second, policy is a vital step in this, but so is the personal touch and welcome by resettlement agencies like International Rescue Committee, World Relief, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and others. Local communities and volunteers can support these and other refugee-serving organizations as they work with Afghan families in the months ahead.Third, the US needs to continue a humanitarian commitment to Afghans still in Afghanistan. This includes at least 250,000 who have worked for the U.S. mission in the past 20 years but remain in the country. Additionally, an estimated 18 million are at humanitarian risk. The US must not walk away from the moral imperative to help there.One volunteer I worked alongside is an Afghan American on the Afghan national track team. His specialty is the 800 meters, a race in between sprint and long distance. The Afghans arriving have finished their first sprint. Now begins their long-distance work of resettlement, and so does ours.If we follow through, then as a country we can continue to say with our deepest sincerity and our actions:“Welcome. We can’t imagine how hard this has been, but we’re very glad you’re safe. And we’re very glad that you’re here.”(Kent Annan is co-director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College in Illinois.)