PAGE LINKS: The Afghan Family ~ Mari Abad ~ Afghan Refugee Presentation ~ Hazaras ~ Welcome Corps ~ Status of Our Efforts

Status of Our Efforts

Ali’s and Rana’s second son, Omid, was born Oct 26, 2023. The, now eight, family members still reside together in the enclave of Afghan Hazara on the side of a mountain by Quetta in Baluchistan, Pakistan in a second story apartment. They have refugee-seeking (not refugee) status from UNHCR.

The risks to the eight are even greater than before, as the Government of Pakistan has announced that all Afghans in the country will be deported back to Pakistan (from which they fled) within the next six months.

In January 2024, with the support of the All Saints parish, Warren Muir, Amadou Hamady, Sarah Day, and five others applied formally to be a US Government Welcome Corps Group to sponsor to Ali, Rana, and their two young sons, Amir and Omid to immigrate to Manchester, NH.

Before our Welcome Corps application, UNHCR classified Grandma Feroza, her daughter-in-law, Nasiba, and Nasiba’s two children as a separate family and was working with Australia to have those four emigrate there, so they were not part of our application. The four being considered to emigrate to Australia are anxiously awaiting approval.

 Since January 2025, the Trump Administration has cancelled the Welcome Corps Program and has stopped processing new refugee applications for anyone not already in the US (except for about 60 white South Africans). So, there is no chance of getting any of them to the US in the foreseeable future.

Warren is in constant online contact with all of them and urges them not to lose hope. Numerous humanitarian and refugee assistance organizations have been contacted and are trying to identify other places in the world where they might be able to move to safety.

Ali is now fluent in English and has self-taught advanced computer programming skills and has been programming international botanical websites. Rana and (now 7 yr old) Amir are both continue too advance their English language skills with online tutoring.

 Sarah Day and Warren Muir will provide updates in All Saints weekly E-News. (Go to allsaints@metrocast.net to be added to the weekly E-News emails) and on this website to keep everyone interested up to date.