According to a famine warning group, Afghanistan will reach crisis levels of acute food insecurity between October and January. Though the United Nations’s World Food Program will provide food aid to 15 million Afghans per month until next March, the Taliban will likely remain involved in aid distribution.
But tens of thousands of American allies still awaiting Special Immigrant Visas or refugee referral processing are facing another winter with no employment, security concerns, rising food costs, and no safe access to international food aid. Afghans supported by nongovernmental organizations may fare no better than those trying to make ends meet on their own. Since the invasion of Ukraine diverted attention from Afghanistan, many NGOs have been running on financial fumes.
US GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FAIL TO ANSWER KEY QUESTIONS ON AFGHANISTAN EVACUATIONS
Stacy Gentile, a volunteer with Operation North Star, told me that his organization has had to “cut back life-saving operations a third time.” Without an influx of funds and policy changes from the Biden administration, he said the organization is “quickly approaching the end of this mission.” Operation North Star supports many Afghan special operators who lack straightforward visa pathways to find safety in the United States. Gentile said these people are too high risk to access World Food Program aid and cannot even enter a passport office “because a number of them have been killed doing so.” If abandoned to the streets, Gentile said they will be “easy prey for the Taliban.”
NGO Fill the Needs typically mobilizes for the first few chaotic weeks of a crisis before passing operations to a trusted nonprofit organization or government partner. In Afghanistan, “neither is available,” said Executive Director Amy Sins. Sins is struggling to acquire funds for those her group supports. Sins said that offsetting heating costs and food costs, paying fees for transit and visas, and dealing with the increased cost of living in third countries are her most immediate concerns.
As the founder of Paws Unite People, Meredith Festa has been assisting a group of 169 veterinarians and animal handlers awaiting refugee referral processing. Recently, Festa’s organization also took on the support of a group of 58 Hazara and Tajiks formerly on staff at the Kabul branch of a British animal rescue organization who were smuggled into Pakistan in December 2021. Festa has run out of funds to provide for the group’s cost of living in Pakistan. She is concerned about the possibility of deportation and threats resulting from media coverage of the group’s escape. One person claimed these Afghans are “spies and blasphemers” and will “be accounted and punished” if they return to Afghanistan.
As NGOs fight to support Afghans through a harsh winter, groups such as the Azimi Foundation and Aseel app allow anyone with internet access to direct food aid to those in need. Abdul Bari Azimi told me that his Naan Program, which once delivered 2,000 pieces of bread daily, receives only rare donations. Though his network could deliver monthly food packages to allies and struggling Afghans throughout Afghanistan, Azimi said he now receives around 100 orders each month.
Though the U.S. government appears reticent to address problems facing Afghans imperiled by our withdrawal, Americans can render meaningful aid. Providing assistance during an exceptionally difficult winter is an impactful way to show our continued support for Afghans who spent years working courageously alongside U.S. personnel.
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Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
