BALTIMORE — It has been a long and tough road for Afghan refugee Aziz Salehi who came to the Baltimore area after he fled from Kabul last year.
“Staying in Kabul was kind of dangerous for me and for my family members,” Salehi said.
He was one of thousands of people who scrambled to leave their homes in Afghanistan after the United States completed its withdrawal of troops last August and the Taliban took control of the country.
Salehi was worried that he would be targeted by the Taliban because he worked for an American company.
“They were thinking I’m kind of a spy for America so that’s why I tried to escape,” he said.
Salehi and his family escaped to Pakistan and then they were later granted a visa to come to the US in April and they began living in Towson.
But like so many Afghan refugees, it was not easy transitioning to a whole new country.
“We don’t know about the system, we don’t know about the culture, everything is new for us,” said Salehi.
But with the help of a Baltimore nonprofit, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Salehi is finally starting to settle in, with a new job lined up at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the group helping him get new clothes to wear to work.
“There’s been a lot of progress,” Timothy Young, the director of public relations for the nonprofit, said. “Resettlement agencies across the country, and us included, have really helped them find housing, find employment, access to community services, enrolling children in public schooling, helping them build those ties as they really rebuild their lives here.”
Salehi said he is excited to start his new job and continue to get acclimated with his new community.
“So we can get this job, we can pay our bills and we can make our way in this country,” he said.
If you would like to find out how to help out the Afghan refugees that Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, visit https://www.lirs.org/