How to help Afghan refugees trying to escape Taliban rule

As the U.S. military continued to withdraw from Afghanistan this summer, following decades of deploying troops in the country, thousands of Afghans scrambled to get special immigrant visas available for those who'd helped American forces. They feared for their lives, knowing Taliban insurgents would target them once the Americans left Afghanistan.

Now, given the rapid speed at which the Taliban seized cities across the country and captured the capital city Kabul, those Afghans are at the center of a growing refugee crisis. The U.S. plans to evacuate an initial group of approximately 2,500 Afghans, but at least 20,000 Afghans had applied for the special visa as of mid-July, according to the White House.

Many applicants have been stuck in bureaucratic limbo, waiting for visa approval and stymied by unclear or nonexistent communication from U.S. officials. Those who received visas face other hurdles, including safely traveling long distances to reach Kabul airport and being asked to pay for their plane tickets in cash. Afghans rushed that airport early this week in a desperate attempt to flee Taliban rule. Some clung to a U.S. military plane as it began to move forward on the tarmac, harrowing imagery that was widely shared on social media.

Public outrage may pressure the Biden administration to expedite evacuations for those in the immigrant visa program. It could also force the administration to consider accepting as many refugees as possible who didn't aid the U.S. military but still fear punishment or death for various reasons, including because they support a democratically-elected government, are a girl or woman who's sought employment or education, or identify as LGBTQ. During the Taliban's previous reign, from 1996 to 2001, the the insurgent group followed a strict interpretation of Islamist law, which forbade most women from working and studying and viewed homosexuality as punishable by death.

While lobbying an elected official can help address the plight of Afghan refugees, there are two other ways you can materially aid them right now:

1. Donate cash or airline points to help refugees get on a flight

The nonprofit organization Miles4Migrants uses cash, voucher, and airline mile donations to help ferry people affected by conflict and persecution to safety. The nonprofit takes donations collected from the public and works with dozens of other nonprofit and government agencies to fulfill individual requests for flights.

On Aug. 12, Miles4Migrants tweeted that it was quickly running out of cash and points donations to meet the need coming from Afghan refugees.

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2. Support efforts to resettle Afghan refugees in their new communities

Human rights lawyer Mai El-Sadany tweeted a thread of local efforts to help resettle Afghan refugees in the U.S. and Canada. El-Sadany, managing director and legal and judicial director for Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, pointed to initiatives in the Washington, D.C. metro area, Seattle, Houston, Fort Worth, the San Francisco Bay area, and Canada working to provide Afghan refugees with housing, basic goods, and logistical support.

Those who want to donate goods for refugees in their local communities might consider using a neighborhood or regional Facebook Buy Nothing group to crowdsource items.

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3. Donate to verified GoFundMe efforts

If you want to donate to a GoFundMe effort, the crowdsourcing company has a complete list of verified Afghan relief fundraisers featured on its platform. The verified campaigns aim to support emergency relocation and evacuation services as well as provide necessities for refugees.

There may be additional options for materially aiding Afghan refugees as the situation develops. In the meantime, consider this broad list of ways to support Afghans, regardless of their refugee stats, as tweeted by Sahdya Darr, an immigration policy manager at the digital privacy nonprofit Open Rights Group. Her recommendations include supporting female Afghan reporters, sharing information for Afghan human rights supporters about how to delete their digital browsing history, and listening to and amplifying Afghan voices.

UPDATE: Aug. 21, 2021, 8:58 a.m. PDT This post has been updated to include information about GoFundMe efforts.

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