DALLAS — America’s longest war is finally over now that the last U.S. troops have left Afghanistan. But for many, a new battle is only just beginning.
There are still plenty of people in that country trying to get their paperwork together to get out, and there are thousands of Afghan refugees in other countries who will be stuck in those locations until those documents are in order.
“It's really just put a pin in this fact that there was not adequate preparation for the tens of thousands of people who we knew would need some ability to get their paperwork in order,” Holly Kuzmich said on Y’all-itics. “It all happened so quickly that in hindsight, it’s why many people are frustrated and upset that we didn't do more as a country to really get ahead of this a little bit more.”
Kuzmich is the Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas. She said they have three graduates of their leadership program who’ve been stuck in Afghanistan for the last several weeks. After non-stop, frantic efforts, one finally escaped with the help of the British Government. But the other two remain behind.
“Part of what we have to be careful about is, for all the for all the worry we have and for all the pits in our stomach we have as we try to do this work, their situation is even harder," Kuzmich said. "I mean, what they hear out their windows. They hear explosions. They've obviously had rocket attacks over the past several days. I mean, they're, you know, living in a place that's turned into a war zone essentially, and it's hard to comprehend what that even feels like for them."
Kuzmich said those people who did manage to leave Afghanistan over the past week are in different countries all over the world. Of course, thousands have made it to the U.S. and some of our ally nations. Many others are in countries ranging from Macedonia to the United Arab Emirates. Kuzmich said even Uganda is hosting hundreds of people. Whatever country they might be in, they could be there for a while.
“We have to figure out this issue of like, how do you get them a legal way to sort of permanently be in that country,” she said. “So, there's a lot of people who have escaped who are going to be in a waiting pattern. And for those who have yet to be able to leave, they will have to be under similar circumstances for a while.”
Kuzmich said it’s important now that the American government and organizations like hers don’t just walk away from any Americans, special immigrant visa holders or high-risk women who may still be in Afghanistan. That support, she said, should also reach the million and millions of Afghan citizens who will never leave, but now live under Taliban rule once again.
“We also know brave women leaders who've started schools who've said, 'I'm staying, I'm going to figure it out. I don't know how. But I'm staying and I'm committed to this,'” Kuzmich told Y'all-itics. “My biggest fear is that we walk away.”
Kuzmich said the Bush Institute and many other organizations began discussing the need to speed up the processing of paperwork and visas and other documents several months ago. Because so many organizations were asking for that to happen, Kuzmich said we could have been much better prepared and ready to assist many more people.
“There will obviously be a full investigation and a lot of Congressional hearings to understand this," Kuzmich said. "I'm sure we'll learn a lot more in the coming months to why that wasn't the case."
Learn much more about the Bush Institute’s efforts to help at-risk women in Afghanistan when you listen to our latest episode of Y’all-itics!
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