Our Obligation to the Afghan People
As America’s longest war ends, the federal government must ensure that refugee resettlement moves forward without delay.
Evacuees board an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, Aug. 24, 2021. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense.
A reflection by Thu Nguyen
THE LAST TIME I HAVE SEEN MY FATHER SHED TEARS was when he recounted his treacherous escape from Vietnam in 1978. That was once, more than ten years ago. Today, he shed tears as he wondered to me, “How can the United States or anyone help the Afghani women and children now?” He visibly trembled as he thought about the consequences of the sudden withdrawal of U.S. troops. “I can imagine, [the Taliban] will knock each and every door and execute everyone tied to American efforts.” He understands the fear of the Afghans because his family had also been on the run, city to city down the coast of Vietnam, to flee the brutality of the North Vietnamese Army before he escaped to America.
It is not just the mirror image of the helicopters, with people desperately clinging on and falling to their deaths, that make the fall of Kabul eerily similar to the fall of Saigon. It is the fact that, once again, the United States has pulled the rug from underneath the feet of Afghans without preparing for the consequences. Just forty-six years ago, the world watched in horror as hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese officers, government workers, and anyone affiliated with the U.S. were left behind and rounded up into “re-education” camps. Millions more fled on foot and by boat to seek refuge in another country.
After twenty years in Afghanistan, we all know very clearly what the Taliban are capable of and what they would do in the event of a takeover. Knowing what we know from forty-six years ago in Saigon, and seeing the events unfold in Kabul, it should be a given that the United States gives all and every effort to protect the Afghan people, if their efforts were “humanitarian” in the first place.
My father feels dismayed, as Kabul is so far from borders or bodies of water. As he gravely urged me to pray for the safety of Afghans, I began to shake and tear up as well. I exist here today because of the luck my parents had in escaping, by foot into Cambodia or by boat to Hong Kong. My peers and I bear witness to the trauma of war and refugee journeys, but also to the resilience and success that our parents have created for their second lives in America.
We pray for this for our Afghani siblings, but it is the responsibility and moral obligation of the United States to protect the Afghan people and provide resettlement assistance to the fullest extent. The U.S. must end deportation of refugees, maintain open doors for refugees and asylum seekers, expedite the processing for Afghans seeking asylum and humanitarian parole, and provide adequate access to resources such as food, healthcare, housing, and more.
Thu Nguyen is the Deputy Executive Director of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates.