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Hashem Majidi, 32, who fled Afghanistan final 12 months, speaks with Ruth Morrison, chair of the Automotive Expertise Division at Southern Maine Group Faculty. Majidi discovered tips on how to repair automobiles in his father’s store in Kabul and plans to enroll at SMCC to maintain constructing these abilities. He needs to discover ways to restore electrical automobiles. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Employees Photographer
They left residence simply after breakfast and joined the crush of individuals pushing via the streets of Kabul, making an attempt to keep away from the sticks and rifle butts of the Taliban.
Fatima Askari and Hashem Majidi, who had been newly married, and his finest pal Hassan Merzaiy, had been heading for the airport. Every shouldered one bag of belongings, just a few mandatory journey paperwork and the will to achieve security and freedom in america. She had been an expert athlete till the Taliban returned to energy and dismantled girls’s sports activities packages. Majidi fastened automobiles in his household’s store and Merzaiy ran a pharmacy.
Maine wasn’t of their preliminary journey plans, although they’re amongst greater than 260 Afghans who’ve settled on this state since U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan on Aug. 30, 2021, ending a 20-year conflict and ceding the nation again to the militant Islamists.
That they had been planning to depart for practically a 12 months and had been conscious they confronted nice threat. However they’d no concept how shut they might come to being killed earlier than a cargo aircraft lifted them to an entire new life.
Hassan Merzaiy, Hashem Majidi and Fatima Askari at Southern Maine Group Faculty, the place they plan to enroll in programs. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Employees Photographer
They knew time was working out after they stepped into the throng on Aug. 25, 2021. They feared the evacuation of Afghan civilians would cease with out warning, slamming the door on their goals. They threaded their approach via Kabul, one after the opposite, with Askari sandwiched between the 2 males for added safety. When foot site visitors bottlenecked, Majidi discovered a again path to the airport’s Abbey Gate, the place U.S. officers had been processing Afghans.
Quickly they had been knee deep in putrid sewage, slogging via a high-walled, stone-paved drainage canal that results in the airport. Regardless of the stench, they jostled ahead with a whole lot of others who had the identical concept.
“It was unhealthy,” Askari, 24, recalled. “However we needed to go there. We knew they might shut the airport in just a few days.”
Fatima Askari and Hashem Majidi at Kabul’s airport on Aug. 26, 2021, as they waited in line to board a U.S. navy cargo aircraft for Qatar, their first cease on a months-long journey to Maine. A couple of hours later, a suicide bomber struck outdoors the airport, killing no less than 183 individuals, together with 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans who had been on the gate the place Askari and Majidi stood yesterday. Picture courtesy of Fatima Askari
Once they neared Abbey Gate, they began boosting one another out of the canal. American troops reached down and lifted them to the processing space outdoors the gate. State Division officers checked their paperwork.
It was midday after they entered the airport. Majidi took observe of the time as they walked via the gate.
“I used to be excited and relieved,” mentioned Majidi, 32. “All individuals needed to depart. Solely the Taliban needed to remain. It was a really unhealthy scenario. However we made it.”
The subsequent day, with their sneakers nonetheless reeking of sewage, the three boarded a navy cargo aircraft. Once they landed in Qatar just a few hours later, they discovered {that a} suicide bomber had struck proper outdoors Abbey Gate. Investigators finally decided that 13 U.S. service members and greater than 170 Afghans had been killed. The bomber wore a belt filled with ball bearings that shot via the group. The Islamic State claimed accountability.
The three noticed movies of the explosion and realized simply how slim their escape had been – that it may have been them caught within the bomber’s blast as they waited by the canal.
“The entire water turned pink with the blood of people,” mentioned Merzaiy, 26. “Everybody felt unhealthy for the individuals who had been killed. Kids, girls, every kind of individuals. After that, nobody may go within the airport.”
The door they slipped via had closed. Afghan civilian evacuations ended after the assault.
ON AMERICAN SOIL
Askari, Majidi and Merzaiy landed in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 29, 2021.
Merzaiy recalled the second he stepped onto U.S. soil.
This picture from a video exhibits Marines outdoors Abbey Gate at Kabul’s airport after a suicide bomber’s assault on Aug. 26, 2021. The high-walled sewage canal the place Askari, Majidi and Merzaiy walked to achieve the gate and be processed into the airport runs throughout the highest of the body. The blast killed 13 U.S. service members and greater than 170 Afghans. U.S. Division of Protection by way of AP
“I’m feeling superb as a result of we’re secure and American individuals there clap for me,” he mentioned, his smile breaking into a smile.
The subsequent day they flew to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, the place they might be housed for a number of months amongst 13,000 Afghan evacuees earlier than coming to Maine in January. They had been handled nicely by U.S. navy members there.
“They helped us very a lot and have every little thing for us,” Majidi mentioned, itemizing among the provides they obtained, together with meals, toiletries and winter clothes. “They’re very type.”
Majidi has a member of the family in Texas, however an official steered Maine and the trio determined to move Down East.
“I just like the ocean and nature,” Majidi mentioned. “And I don’t prefer it too scorching.”
Since final August, 260 Afghan evacuees have been resettled in Maine by social service companies, in keeping with the Workplace of Maine Refugee Providers at Catholic Charities Maine, which is helping 116 of the evacuees.
As well as, just a few latest arrivals had been sponsored by members of the family or pals – all of them including to the estimated 400 Afghan-Individuals who lived in Maine earlier than the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan.
The evacuees have settled in Portland, South Portland, Westbrook, Biddeford, Bathtub, Brunswick, Lewiston, Auburn, Augusta and Waterville, with assist from Maine Immigrant and Refugee Providers in Lewiston and the Jewish Group Alliance of Southern Maine in Portland.
The JCA has resettled 38 Afghans since January, offering English lessons, social packages and different providers, mentioned Molly Curren Rowles, government director. Serving to newcomers discover everlasting housing continues to be a serious problem given the shortage of inexpensive residences, she mentioned.
“However these are people who find themselves extremely motivated and need to restart their lives and turn out to be a part of this group,” Rowles mentioned.
Askari, Majidi and Merzaiy have lived in Portland space lodges, their stays funded by authorities packages. Two months in the past, Merzaiy moved into an house on Munjoy Hill that he and Majidi cleaned and renovated without charge to the owner. They painted partitions, eliminated dirty carpeting and changed it with laminate flooring.
“It was laborious work,” Merzaiy mentioned, however it appears to be like a lot better now. The owner promised his subsequent obtainable house to Majidi and Askari.
A FORTUNATE FEW
The three understand how fortunate they’re to be among the many 86,000 Afghans who’ve come to america for the reason that withdrawal. Like most, they got here as humanitarian parolees in a particular program that granted momentary entry however no pathway to get inexperienced playing cards and turn out to be lawful everlasting residents. They nonetheless needed to apply for asylum and undergo a screening course of that would take years.
Askari and Majidi’s scenario was higher than most parolees.
In October 2020, they’d utilized for inexperienced playing cards via the Range Immigrant Visa Program, which makes use of a yearly lottery to pick out individuals from international locations with low immigration charges to the U.S.
Fatima Askari, at proper, sporting No. 12, was a member of the nationwide girls’s volleyball crew in Afghanistan earlier than the Taliban resumed management of the nation and dismantled the sports activities program. She plans to enroll within the pharmacy technician program at Southern Maine Group Faculty. Picture courtesy of Fatima Askari
They met within the spring of 2020, after he noticed her play volleyball in Kabul as a member of the Afghan nationwide girls’s crew. He seemed her up on Fb they usually exchanged messages for some time earlier than their first date. They married in March 2021.
Like all Afghans who had been evacuated, the couple got work permits quickly after arriving within the U.S. However additionally they discovered early on that they had been amongst 2,100 Afghans who would get certainly one of as much as 50,000 inexperienced playing cards given out via the annual visa lottery. They anticipate to get their inexperienced playing cards inside weeks, they mentioned, which is able to permit them to dwell and work right here completely.
Merzaiy’s scenario additionally is healthier than most. He lately was granted asylum, he mentioned, which suggests he can keep and work, apply for presidency help, and petition to deliver members of the family right here. After one 12 months he can apply for a inexperienced card, which now takes a median of three years to obtain. 4 years after he will get one, he can apply for citizenship, like several inexperienced card holder.
All three need to deliver members of the family right here. Askari thinks of her mother and father. She and her mom communicate nearly day by day.
“She could be very overprotective and she or he misses me,” Askari mentioned.
Majidi needs to deliver over his youthful sister, who was stripped of her authorities job when the Taliban resumed management, and his youthful brother, who excelled at college however was barred from college as a result of the household are Hazaras, a persecuted ethnic group in Afghanistan.
His brother nonetheless works within the household’s automobile restore store.
“They should be in America,” Majidi mentioned.
Hassan Merzaiy, 26, ran a small pharmacy store in Kabul earlier than fleeing as U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan final August. He plans to enroll within the pharmacy technician program at Southern Maine Group Faculty. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Employees Photographer
LUCK AND FORESIGHT
The household reunions may take awhile. Most Afghans who’ve left the nation or try to get out nonetheless wrestle.
“There’s a honest quantity of luck concerned in getting right here,” mentioned Jennifer Atkinson, an immigration legal professional in Damariscotta. “Some individuals additionally had foresight, taking steps to organize upfront. The one commonality amongst those that succeeded is just not ready for the proper second.”
Many who fled Afghanistan are caught in neighboring international locations akin to Pakistan, Atkinson mentioned, the place their visas are working out and circumstances are deteriorating after latest monsoon floods displaced greater than 30 million individuals.
Since July 2021, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers has obtained practically 50,000 humanitarian parole requests, however the company has adjudicated fewer than 10,000, and it has denied about 95 p.c of them, the Related Press reported. Processing of Particular Immigration Visas (SIVs), granted to Afghans vulnerable to Taliban retaliation as a result of they labored for U.S. forces, is also severely backlogged, Atkinson mentioned.
For hundreds of Afghans nonetheless making an attempt to get right here, chances are high dim.
“It’s been extraordinarily irritating for people right here in Maine who’re making an attempt to help members of the family oversees,” Atkinson mentioned.
Responding to criticism, the Biden administration this month introduced a brand new coverage meant to assist Afghans obtain everlasting residency extra rapidly.
Underneath Operation Enduring Welcome, america will cease admitting most Afghans on humanitarian parole and beef up efforts to supply inexperienced playing cards a lot sooner to those that are admitted, Reuters reported. To be eligible to come back right here now, Afghans should have rapid members of the family right here, or have labored for the U.S. authorities in Afghanistan, or be recognized as being among the many most weak candidates to the U.S. refugee program. The brand new coverage takes impact Oct. 1.
Reza Jalali, second from left, government director of the Larger Portland Immigrant Welcome Middle, walks with Hassan Merzaiy, Hashem Majidi and Fatima Askari at Southern Maine Group Faculty, the place he and his group are serving to newcomers entry academic alternatives. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Employees Photographer
BACK TO SCHOOL
Majidi, Askari and Merzaiy had been resettled by Catholic Charities. The Larger Portland Immigrant Welcome Middle is offering further help, together with entry to an internet English studying program and different academic alternatives.
The middle has been working with the three evacuees as a mannequin program, serving to them navigate immigration interviews, job functions and different challenges collectively, mentioned Reza Jalali, government director.
The hope is to repeat the method with different small teams of newcomers who can profit from supporting one another as they settle in. The evacuees are best as a pilot group as a result of they got here with work permits that allowed them to pursue employment instantly, in contrast to asylum candidates, who now wait greater than six months for work authorization.
“They’re all very keen to seek out jobs,” Jalali mentioned. “It’s the form of workforce Maine wants.”
The middle additionally has helped the trio spotlight each the abilities they’ve and the worth of their lived expertise as they ready to enter a labor market determined for staff.
All three plan to attend Southern Maine Group Faculty. Merzaiy and Askari plan to enroll within the pharmacy technician program, which is obtainable on-line. Askari additionally wish to resume finding out accounting; She obtained a two-year diploma in Afghanistan.
Majidi needs to take the auto mechanics course – constructing on abilities he discovered in his father’s store – and discover ways to restore electrical automobiles.
However first, all of them need to enhance their English. Askari and Merzaiy knew some English earlier than evacuating. Majidi just about began from scratch. When speaking with English audio system, they assist one another alongside.
“I need to be taught English very nicely,” Majidi mentioned. “I write slightly poetry and I wish to write poetry in English sooner or later.”
Fatima Askari and Hashem Majidi married just a few months earlier than leaving Afghanistan as america withdrew its troops in August 2021. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Employees Photographer
VOICES FOR FREEDOM
Additionally they need to grasp English to allow them to elevate worldwide consciousness of the discrimination and persecution that girls and others expertise in Afghanistan.
Askari mentioned she was crushed when the Taliban disbanded the nationwide girls’s volleyball crew simply earlier than she left. A star member of the junior crew was beheaded in October 2021 and militants had been making an attempt to “seek out” girls athletes who remained within the nation, in keeping with information reviews.
“It was heartbreaking as a result of we practiced so laborious,” she mentioned. “With out the Taliban, society had improved. Ladies may go to school and play sports activities if your loved ones allowed it. When the Taliban returned, all of that stopped. All over the place girls labored, that stopped. Now they’ll solely go to major faculty. After that, they need to keep residence with their household.”
All three are Hazaras, which is the third-largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, after Pashtuns and Tajiks. Like most Hazaras, they’re Shiite Muslim, whereas 90 p.c of Afghans are Sunni. So, Hazaras are focused for each their ethnicity and their religion.
“Sadly, that is the story of all Hazaras,” Majidi mentioned. “For 300 years they’ve been persecuted, saved out of fine jobs and never allowed to be educated.”
Majidi worries most for his youthful sister, who used to run an accounting division for town of Kabul. She has two levels, in science and economics, and she or he participated in an American-sponsored empowerment program for ladies. Then the Taliban booted her from her job.
“The Taliban despatched her residence and mentioned she may ship a male relative to take her place,” Majidi mentioned. “It didn’t matter if he wasn’t certified. Now her (profession) is completed. She is at residence. She’s making an attempt very laborious to get to the U.S. so she will contribute to society.”
Hassan Merzaiy stands within the pharmacy store he ran in Kabul earlier than fleeing Afghanistan final August as U.S. troops withdrew. Now 26, he lately moved into an house on Munjoy Hill and plans to review pharmacy expertise at Southern Maine Group Faculty. Picture courtesy of Hassan Merzaiy
BUILDING A NEW LIFE
Sadly, at this second the three can do little for his or her family members again in Afghanistan, Merzaiy mentioned.
However they’re making quick progress of their efforts to ascertain themselves right here, safe good jobs and get diplomas and levels that can advance their careers.
Their diligence in making use of for jobs hit a double win this month when all three had been employed for part-time work within the stockroom on the Burlington Coat Manufacturing unit retailer in South Portland and for full-time positions at Abbott Laboratories in Scarborough.
“We’re very pleased,” Askari mentioned. “We want the work so we are able to generate income and care for ourselves.”
Two jobs is just not an excessive amount of, Merzaiy mentioned: “I need to begin finding out with SMCC.”
They’ve huge plans. Their goals haven’t dimmed.
Merzaiy wish to turn out to be a pharmacist, he mentioned, probably even a doctor. He’s additionally fascinated by building and hopes to turn out to be a property developer.
Majidi wish to open a big auto restore store. He and Merzaiy additionally bought used automobiles in Kabul, they usually wish to open a dealership collectively right here.
Askari appears to be like ahead to having a profession and a house once more. Dwelling in a resort room has been superb, she mentioned, as a result of it’s momentary. However she needs her personal house, and sooner or later a home. However not simply any home.
“I need to construct a new home,” she mentioned, “of my very own design.”
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