Viets for Afghans

02/25/2023

Sharing a preview event to share docuseries about and experiences is premiering on 3/3. Event is next Tuesday 2/28 at SIFF Uptown. Panel discussion to follow. For tickets sign up here.

Join KCTS9 and Crosscut for a screening of the new documentary series, Refuge After War, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Thanh Tan, and key characters. The evening will also include the official unveiling of a new docuseries initiative from Cascade Public Media, Crosscut Origins.

11/27/2022

A wonderful oped by our own FL O'Quinn. Just in time for the holidays!

They deserve a chance to grow to their full potential.

10/24/2022

We ♥️ our student consultants.

RP .lee An absolute honor is has been to support the resettlement of Afghan refugees in Washington State through
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From humanitarian parole to the pilot Sponsor Circles and our final 150-page capstone project on community formation and where the work will continue, I’m humbled that Viets for Afghans has taken my team’s recommendation to sunset and pivot to advocacy
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Thank you to the best capstone team and , and our indomitable Professor Akhtar Badshah.
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Follow MAPS AMEN to learn more about their work to resettle our new Afghan neighbors and if you’re interested in helping out, we are in need of a few researchers. HMU!

10/23/2022

Here’s another example showcasing how communities everywhere responded to our request to activate and help .

In Texas, the students of raised $2500 for .

H/T .daleks for letting us know and sharing these pics. He’s a son of Vietnamese refugees and felt compelled to act, as did his medical school classmates. Appreciate the group effort! ♥️

10/23/2022

📣As we finally come up for air and reflect on the past year, we believe now is the appropriate time to share what our broad coalition of helpers have achieved since we were first moved to action by the stunning imagery and heartbreaking headlines coming out of Afghanistan on and after Aug. 15, 2021. Since then, we’ve learned it’s also important to recognize when the time is right to transition a project’s mission and scope.

Please read our full message at vietsforafghans.org.

Summary:
🪧We're sunsetting our volunteer-run operation and transitioning to advocacy, as needed.
🎓We're sharing learnings from our mutual aid experiences and encouraging our volunteers to continue their humanitarian work independent of Viets for Afghans.
💸We're transferring our remaining funds to our Afghan partners to scale our impact and ensure more refugees can access resources to become self-sufficient.

We have loved seeing communities everywhere mobilize in service of helping refugees. Please don't stop and keep the spirit of Viets for Afghans alive by sharing stories!

10/23/2022

Looking back at some of the incredible ways people have answered our call to join in helping to welcome Afghan refugees. Seattle citizen Maggi Johnson started her own sponsor circle and wrote about the experience for our local newspaper. ♥️ Appreciate the name-check, Maggi! We were often so distracted by the challenging and unpredictable nature of mutual aid that we couldn’t see or understand our impact.

10/03/2022

🙌🏽 📢
RP

Here is why the is needed & how we as a community can ensure passage.

Utilize the coalition’s toolkit now via link in bio to be part of history.

10/03/2022

We are proud to have been one of the first groups to help privately resettle refugees, and are eager to share learnings as the federal government moves forward with an expanded pilot to help more refugees. Many lessons learned. It’s incredibly hard but fulfilling volunteer work.
* We don’t have the bandwidth or capacity to sponsor additional families at this time, but wholeheartedly support and encourage others to step up and get involved.

Here’s an excellent primer:

A private sponsorship program in the United States would offer more refugees a pathway to reach safety and an opportunity for those in the U.S. to lend them a helping hand without being limited by a number set by the government or its failure to reach it.

This week, the Biden administration signed a refugee admissions goal of 125,000 for the next fiscal year and the accompanying Report to Congress highlights the creation of a private sponsorship program as a priority objective.

09/01/2022

The humanity… ♥️

RP Many of the evacuees arrived in America as refugees. But is just the beginning of a difficult journey for many. ⁣
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and I spoke to some of them. California and beyond. We spoke to a military commander, a former journalist, a finance officer, an athlete, a health worker, a gender counselor, and more. ⁣Read our story. 🔗 link in bio.
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Life in the U.S. isn’t all rainbows, milk & honey. The paperwork for our immigration system is byzantine. Afghans arrive on humanitarian parole and have to apply for asylum within a time frame. Many don't even speak english. Then comes the burden of building a new life and coping mentally. Where resettlement agencies fall short, volunteer groups attempt to fill the gap. ⁣
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They leave behind lives that they had built in the last 20 years, only to step into remedial jobs: Blackhawk helicopter pilots driving uber, Military prosecutors working as warehouse security, journalist working in walmart, newly minted intelligence officer as a gas station attendant. ⁣
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Afghans are used to living in large households. It is their culture to take care of their own. With America’s housing crisis, it is now a necessity to band together. Some landlords are issuing eviction notices to Afghan tenants who are exceeding occupancy rates. ⁣
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Then there is the newly introduced bipartisan bill called the Afghan Adjustment Act. If Congress approves, it would establish a path to permanent legal status for evacuees – adding another option for those pursuing already asylum or a special immigrant visa, which are hampered by severe backlogs and long processing times. ⁣
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Many are hopeful, but time is running out. If their humanitarian parole clocks out and asylum aren’t applied for or approved, what happens then? ⁣
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As the crisis continues to unfold in , the story of Afghan refugees' struggle in the U.S. – one year later – is a stark reminder that war does not simply end by fleeing. War follows them. It haunts them into their new lives, affecting them in more ways than one can imagine.

captures

09/01/2022

April 30, 1975. On that day, the last Americans left Vietnam, bringing a 10+ war to an abrupt and chaotic end — and marking the beginning of a mass exodus. Hundreds of thousands of people died trying to flee before the U.S. finally instituted orderly departure programs for its former allies.

August 30, 2021. American forces completely withdraw from Afghanistan after a 20+ year presence in the country. We are watching history repeat itself and allowing needless suffering to persist.

Why?

Pass the and fix the broken and racist humanitarian parole process. Now.

RP We refuse to believe that it is the forever fate of the Afghan people to suffer from conflict and oppression. Let us not forget that the gains Afghanistan made in the past 20 years were largely made possible by the Afghan people themselves and those people remain eager to construct a safer, more prosperous homeland for generations of Afghans to come.

Read Our Full Press Release 🔗 in our LinkTree in Bio or at bit.ly/aaf1year.

09/01/2022

🆘 Important thread. Please read and spread the word, demand action❗️

RP 📣 Today, we held a Congressional briefing on Afghan Humanitarian Parole. We were joined by friends from and help from . also presented in an informational role. Swipe through for some of our key points.

☎️Congressional offices have a role to play in holding the administration accountable to addressing the blatant disparities we’ve seen, and using existing power to establish an accessible parole program for Afghans.

08/30/2022

Love this quote from refugee Viet Thanh Nguyen]. This is why allyship matters.

RP “…refugees are living embodiments of a disturbing possibility: that human privileges are quite fragile, that one’s home, family, and nation are one catastrophe away from being destroyed.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen] , The Refugees

Rebuilding takes a lifetime.

Pass the because for Afghans resettling in the US now.