Kristina cooke, Mica Roseberg and Lindsey Wasson

RENTON (Washington) – Mansoor, a ten-year-old boy, narrowly escaped Afghanistan when it was overthrown by the Taliban in August. He now lives in Washington with his family and asks them daily if he will be able to return.

Mansoor, his mother and sister were separated during chaos surrounding withdrawal of U.S. forces and evacuation of over 70,000 Afghans to America.

Mansoor carried Shogofa his toddler as they entered Kabul’s airport. Shots rang out, and Mansoor was forced to leave Kabul with his family. Three days later, he boarded with Shogofa and hoped the rest would join him onboard.

Shogofa arrived at the U.S. Military base in New Jersey along with Mansoor and her children. They joined their sister Nilofar in Seattle after several weeks. Mansoor and Nilofar, Mansoor’s parents, are hiding in Afghanistan due to their father’s past position with the Afghan government.

Nilofar stated that Mansoor now sits alone and seldom plays with other children. To protect Mansoor’s family and any other Afghan relatives, the family asked that only their first names are published.

According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mansoor was one of approximately 1300 Afghan children who were evacuated from Afghanistan to the United States without legal guardians. This figure was not previously known.

Advocates claimed that many of the Afghan children were not intentionally separated from their Afghan parents in Kabul.

U.S. government is facing many problems due to the complex situations faced by minors and language barriers. Foster families are not available for children who do not have American sponsors. There is no way to reunite children with their parents who remain in America.

Two U.S. officials requested anonymity to confirm that President Joe Biden’s administration works to accelerate the entry of families whose children have already arrived in America.

If there’s no fast track for parents, they will probably be caught in a backlog of Afghans who have applied to the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.

Many of the adult and children evacuees are now allowed temporary entry to the United States. However, this does not guarantee them permanent legal status. To navigate the complicated immigration system, children may need legal guidance.

The government claims that it has received over 26,000 applications from Afghan nationals seeking temporary entry to Canada since August 2021. U.S. Immigration Services (USCIS) says that less than 100 of the July 1st applications were conditionally approved. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Afghans must travel to another country in order to be eligible to apply for citizenship because of the closure of U.S. Embassy Kabul.

Nilofar explained that Mansoor and his parents have avoided their cell phones in fear of being tracked by Islamist militant rulers. The boy spoke to his parents on Nov. 1 for the first since being separated from them in August.

Jennifer Vanegas (supervising attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center) stated that children are often left in a state of uncertainty about what might happen. She also said that it can cause trauma and stress for their families.

SHELTERS

Unaccompanied Migrant Children are the majority in U.S. Government Shelters. Current numbers of 11,000 and more have fallen from peak levels of 22,000 earlier in this year. Like the Afghan children, Central American minors have sometimes set themselves free to seek reunification with their parents and other relatives in America.

HHS states that its goal is to quickly and safely reunite immigrant children with their sponsors in the United States.

The HHS reports that more than 1,000 unaccompanied Afghanistan children were released. Many of these kids had been traveling along with family members, including Mansoor.

Unaccompanied migrants traveling alone with their families are usually separated from their parents and placed under government care. However, authorities have made exceptions to this rule by issuing policy guidance on September 4, which stated that Afghan children can be released to adult with “bona fide”, established relationships after being screened and approved by U.S. officials.

According to HHS, as of Monday, there were 266 unaccompanied Afghan children in long-term foster and government care.

There are many children in America who don’t have relatives or friends who can release them. Ashley Huebner from the nonprofit National Immigrant Justice Center Chicago said that many Afghan children are currently being sheltered because their cases were left in the United States.

She said that she thought overall, the “lack of action” was quite alarming. It shouldn’t be so difficult, two months after the evacuation.

Vanegas from Michigan stated that there are currently 12 children at Starr Commonwealth Emergency Intake Site. 27 had been there for longer than 40 day as of Tuesday.

Advocates stated that many potential foster parents don’t speak Afghan and do not know Afghan customs.

Afghan American organizations have been able to find people willing to adopt children from the community, but they are having trouble with the long and complex state licensing process that foster families must go through. A coalition of organisations sent a November 3 letter to HHS. This was seen by Reuters. The group asked for HHS to speed up and simplify reunification processes such as sponsorship, foster care and humanitarian parole, among other suggestions to reduce “displacement,” uncertainty, loss, grief, and the suffering that children face.

HHS claimed it was working with shelters and providing psychological care to traumatized children. HHS also said that the agency is working to help children be placed abroad according to their wishes.

ANGUISH

Sadam Aziz (15 years old) is dealing with forced displacement and the anxiety of not knowing their parents’ safety. Sadam was also expecting to travel with the family, but he got separated while attempting to retrieve water from the long line at Kabul Airport. Sadam brought back the water and his family vanished.

Jamaluddin Rohani who lives in Washington, said that he reached out to U.S. soldiers to ask for assistance after he couldn’t find his parents. Rohani explained that his relatives were also unable to locate him and suggested that he board a plane to Qatar to search for his parents.

Sadam in Qatar is a slightly-built man who looks younger than his years. He was transferred to an unaccompanied refugee children’s compound.

Rohani claimed that he heard the news about his nephew’s location first through a UNICEF call. UNICEF told Rohani Sadam was alone in Qatar. Rohani and the agency had no clue where Sadam was from.

Rohani admitted that he didn’t go to sleep for three days.

Rohani received news that Sadam, his brother was alive. However, he is hiding in Afghanistan as a result of having worked with both the Afghan government (and the U.S. military).

Sadam could not go anywhere else except Rohani, an uncle that he hadn’t seen for years.

Sadam was transferred first to an emergency shelter for children in Michigan, where he was then quarantined with COVID-19. Rohani explained that Sadam phoned him to say, “I’m scared. There’s nothing there.” Rohani said that Sadam asked repeatedly when his parents would pick him up.

His uncle was happy to accept him after several weeks. Sadam helped around the home since his arrival and enrolled at school. Rohani is a security guard and worries that he will not be able support his nephew over the long term. He said, “For one year, maybe I can do that, but afterwards I can’t because I am low-income and have a huge family.”

Some of the evacuees that ended up with other children while on their trip have stated they cannot care for them indefinitely. Advocates say that a few children who were in these types of relationships ended up in shelters.

Sadam was seen playing with his cousins and watching one of his neighbors play with his remote-controlled car. Rohani indicated that he was trying his best to adapt to his new home.

Rohani stated that Sadam continues to ask her “when are your parents coming?” Rohani answered, “I don’t understand.”