HAYWARD, Calif. (KRON) - Dozens of Afghan refugees are already here in the Bay Area and more are expected to arrive in the coming days.
A 26-year-old refugee showed KRON4 the room he is renting from another Afghan family in Hayward. It's sparsely furnished because he fled his home country three weeks ago.
He's not getting much sleep and not because his mattress is on the floor.
“I am so worried every night, so I just became homesick. I don't know what door I knock so if there is any way to bring them, I will do anything," Azizi said.
He only wants to be referred to by Azizi, his last name because he fears for the safety of his family still back in Afghanistan.
Azizi's brother and pregnant sister-in-law were also trying to get out on the same kind of special Visa that got him to the U.S.
He hasn't heard from them since the explosion at the Kabul airport that killed dozens of Afghans in addition to the 13 U.S. service members.
He's also gotten any messages from his mother, father, and younger sister in weeks, all of whom he wants to get to this country, but that dream seems all the more distant now that the U.S. has officially ended their evacuations.
“What I'm doing here? My family is there in Afghanistan, I cannot do anything for them. So please do something for my family or just send me so we can die with each other,” Azizi said.
Azizi is one of 70 Afghan refugees who's been settled here with assistance from the Jewish Community and Family Services East Bay.
This organization says they've got 60 more headed here but that number is expected to grow as other Afghani's who were first shuttled to other countries make their way here.
“A lot of what happened is people got moved to other countries initially, there's going to be a whole other wave of people who kind of go through the application process to come here and so we're really anticipating that our numbers will continue to rise," Holly Taines White said.
Like Azizi, they will likely arrive with meager belongings and heavy hearts.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3sXleSk
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