Interest in helping Afghan refugees high as resettlement team holds first meeting

Sep. 1—One of the leaders of a team preparing to help refugees from Afghanistan resettle into Manhattan said the community response at its inaugural meeting was "over the top."

Aaron Estabrook, Afghan Resettlement Team co-leader and Manhattan city commissioner, said the first team meeting Tuesday via Zoom had 35 people, representing more than 20 municipal agencies, who stated they wanted to be part of the resettlement team or otherwise help incoming refugees.

Estabrook said the objective of the initial meeting was to introduce everyone, explain the most immediate needs for any resettling Afghan evacuees, and determine how each local organization could participate in the effort.

Susan Donovan, acting director of the National Office of Refugees and the International Rescue Committee, also joined the meeting. Estabrook said Donovan explained how the emigration process works for refugees, starting with vetting and processing by government officials. The evacuees are being taken to various military bases, where representatives of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) will provide them with basic needs like healthcare and official documentation.

Estabrook said he has a list of 26 Afghans — 16 of whom are children under the age of 14 — currently waiting in Dubai who said they want to relocate to the Manhattan area. Estabrook said it's now a matter of "hurry up and wait" as the refugee relocation process is carried out by the ORR.

"It's a typical condition where sometimes the boots on the ground are ahead of the policy on a national level," Estabrook said. "There are still many unknowns."

One of those "unknowns" is the timing for the first arrivals of Afghans to Manhattan. Estabrook said he asked Donovan what a realistic timeline for arrivals would look like.

"Her response was, 'Well, it could be tomorrow,'" Estabrook said. "On one hand, there's the balance of a process at a national level ... while on the other hand, if (the refugees) indicate they want to come to a certain location, they could be there within 24 hours."

Estabrook said it's "common sense" to expect some Afghans to come to Manhattan. Last week, an Afghan man with connections to Afghan families already living in the area contacted Estabrook to tell him about 70 evacuees who were interested in relocating to Riley County. Estabrook said his fellow co-leader, Fatima Jaghoori, is also working to bring her family members who remain in Afghanistan to Kansas. Jaghoori is a native of Afghanistan, a U.S. Army veteran and a student at K-State.

Thousands of people — including Afghans who assisted American and allied militaries during the two-decade war in the region — are trying to flee after the Taliban swept over the country, retaking it earlier this month just ahead of the American withdrawal Tuesday. Many Manhattan-area Afghans, including Jaghoori, are worried about their extended family members becoming targets for revenge by the Taliban.

Estabrook said the Manhattan team is "way ahead of the game" in terms of getting the infrastructure in place, along with a network of volunteers and local agencies, to handle an influx of refugees.

"It was almost like we were so prepared that it was a little bit shocking to (Donovan)," Estabrook said. "I think that's a credit to this community and the willingness of local agency leaders to say, 'Count me in.'"

The Afghan Resettlement Team includes Estabrook, Jaghoori, Riley County Health Department director Julie Gibbs, Riley County EMS assistant director Josh Gering, Kansas State University chief of staff Linda Cook, USD 383 English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) coordinator Emily Cherms and FIT Closet coordinator Tracy Emery.

Other team members include but are not limited to:

— USD 383 language access coordinator Virginia Rodriguez

— Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce military community liaison Janet Nichols and director Jason Smith

— ATA Bus executive director Anne Smith and director of mobility management Mike Wilson

— Housing MHK Fund representative and Alliance Realty agent Scott Seel

— Manhattan Emergency Shelter executive director Emily Wagner

— Kansas Department for Children and Families representatives Annie Bell, Mary Ellen Beck, and Edith VonFeldt

— Shepherd's Crossing executive director Beth Klug

— Manhattan Christian College assistant professor of intercultural studies David Cupery

— Islamic Center of Manhattan representative and K-State professor Elfadil Bashir

— Unitarian Universalist Fellowship leader Judy Nickelson

— Ecumenical Campus Ministries pastor Christian Watkins

— Kristin Little, the local district representative for Sen. Jerry Moran, is the federal liaison for the team.