Absent Federal Guidance, Activists Take Afghan Refugee Resettlement into Their Own Hands

By Bareerah Zafar, Prism

Before arriving in the U.S. six years ago, Besemellah Khuram experienced firsthand the invasion and occupation of his home country of Afghanistan by U.S. military forces in the name of democracy and freedom. Over the past few days, he bore witness from Sacramento, California, through TV screens and phone calls with family as the nation’s major cities fell to the Taliban. Now, in the wake of this week’s events—coming on the heels of decades of years of war, chronic poverty, natural disasters, and a pandemic—the 36-year-old community group leader is anticipating a fresh wave of people fleeing Afghanistan.