Mukhtar, a former Afghani interpreter to the U.S. State Department
On April 23rd, I received a text message from an old friend, Mukhtar*, my interpreter in Afghanistan. I had stayed in contact with Mukhtar when I left the country in 2014 after five years with the State Department. During my time in Afghanistan, Mukhtar saved not only my life but many other American lives.
In his text, Mukhtar told me that the worst-case scenario had happened. The Taliban knew who he was and were trying to get him. My friend Mukhtar had two small children, his wife was seven months pregnant, and they needed to leave fast.
Getting out of Ghazni Province was more complicated than they anticipated. The local smugglers said the trip to Kabul was too dangerous to make with the children and a pregnant lady.
The family’s only other possibility was to make their way to Pakistan. This involved a long ride in the back of a vegetable truck and then walking across the border, where Border Security took all of his money before letting them pass.
A child of an Afghani refugee family shelter in Quetta, Pakistan.
Mukhtar and his family arrived in Quetta, Pakistan, where they were homeless and penniless. Everything they had was left behind or taken from them. The local Mosques gave them temporary shelter, and, with the help of a local welfare office worker, we were able to send Mukhtar a small amount of money to cover his family’s very basic needs.
Afghani refugee families shelter in Quetta, Pakistan.
When he texted me, Mukhtar’s family was sleeping in the basement of a mosque with seven other refugee families, some of whom needed medical attention.
We partnered with reGeneration and raised $16,500 for the seven families in less than two weeks. Thanks to your gifts, the families now have enough funds to pay for shelter, food, and medical care for nine months, as well as some legal support for refugee resettlement in Pakistan or the United States.
A child of an Afghani refugee family shelter in Quetta, Pakistan.
However, their condition remains highly precarious. Since their arrival over a month ago, conditions rapidly change, sometimes by the hour.
Pakistan closed its border and announced it would not recognize Afghanis as refugees, meaning that authorities will send them back into the hands of the Taliban. Local authorities cleared out many mosques and advised Imams that they could not assist the Afghan refugees. All of the families we are supporting remain in hiding.
We are working with our local Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36), who is reaching out to people in the State Department, businesses, and any other entities that may help Mukhtar and the seven other families currently sharing a mosque basement.
Our goal is to support these families for a minimum of one year so that they can either assimilate into Pakistan or receive help from the U.S. State Department.
Hope is the future for these families and children. Thank you for keeping hope alive.
U.S. Veteran Jim Bailey
*For safety reasons, his interpreter will be known as “Mukhtar” instead of his legal name.
