June 2, 2021 - Our thoughts are with RIT students and colleagues from Afghanistan. RIT has been honored to welcome and partner with hundreds of Afghan community members in the past 10 years. Many of our new neighbors coming to the Bay Area are Afghans who have received Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for putting their lives at risk to work with the U.S. government. Read on for community testimonials and action items.
The U.S. military is continuing its planned troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, after a devastating war that lasted 20 years for the U.S. and its allies. Afghanistan has been in a multi-generation war since 1973.
People anticipate more events like the recent school bombing that took the lives of 85, mostly schoolgirls from the persecuted Hazara ethnic minority.
“Afghanistan citizens have been suffering from a long unwanted war that took 20 years for NATO and West, and never ended. All tribes from any ethnicity have been targeted tragically and have been killed, from top tribal leader to innocent school students.
Specially in the recent years Hazara students, who are identified as the country’s most hard working, intelligent, and brilliant in different area in Afghan society, starting with sports and being gold medalists to scoring in most high levels educational programs. However, unfortunately they have lost their lives to a crucial and unknown enemy who have held many attacks.
Such as the most recent one happened in west of Kabul, when the Hazara students were let go by the end of their classes, and a targeted bomb blast happened. While some were injured, the remaining were trying to escape the scene, and the second and third blast happened in row. It killed over 80 and injured 157 others. This tragedy reminded hundreds of families in sorrows of their loved ones.
The victims of this crucial act will be remembered forever. Our hearts and minds go to all those families who can only keep the memories of their children and can never see their angel faces anymore."
-Ali Pirzad, Afghan community member
Taliban has denied involvement in the school bombing, but their record on women’s rights is abysmal (during their rule, schooling for girls was banned). Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch has said in an NPR interview: “I think this attack is going to push thousands of girls out of school.”
"My heart goes out to those beautiful and innocent souls of the latest terrorist attack on Saidul Shohada School in Kabul. The world may compromise with a group that never gives mercy to our children, but humanity will never forget this cruelty."
-Aria, 5th grade
"Women have paid a heavy price during the political and social life of Afghanistan, but seem to get traction to access some of their fundamental rights such as education. But we saw how fragile that tends to be after the recent attack on the girls school.
No words or any other actions can compensate for those lives lost. They are the burnt pages of our country with millions of others and counting. Their life stories are heartbroken and sad lyrics sung by their ashes released to the wind of destruction, that humanity forgets in a matter of a moment.
The Afghan nation's book is on fire and won't survive unless we find our pathway to justice and equality, and those cannot be achieved unless we learn how to define our coexistence with others."
-Anonymous (fRumi)
We need to welcome more SIV holders!
According to Vets for American Ideals, there are more than 17,000 applicants (plus their families), who are waiting in Afghanistan to be processed for Special Immigrant Visas. Lawmakers introduced a bill to increase SIV to 8,000 (from 4,000), however, advocates are urging for many more.
“SIV program is extremely essential program. The US government/US Army must keep their promises to those who worked for the US Government or on behalf of the US Government. Their lives are in great danger after the US withdrawal. As the SIV clients are still immigrating to Northern California because of security situation is getting worse in Afghanistan day by day, specially with the withdrawal plan of the United States of America. The SIV newcomers are willing to stay together with their families and friends in every locations. One of the popular location is the Bay Area.”
-F.Y., Afghan community leader
Please join RIT in taking solidarity action:
Support Afghan women and children:
https://womenforafghanwomen.org/
Support RIT’s multilingual programs for Afghans and other newcomers, including the Women’s Initiative: reftrans.org/give
Picture credits for this post - Afghanistan landscapes:
(1) UN Photo. (2) seair21. Both pictures protected under Creative Commons. No changes made.