PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As the capital of Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, an Afghan-American community advocate said she and her family are struggling while they watch thousands of people desperate to escape.
"I am simultaneously heartbroken and infuriated," said Samera Yousuf, co-founder of the Afghan-American Conference, now known as the Afghan-American Community Organization. Yousuf works with International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aid organization, and is pursuing a graduate degree in refugee and humanitarian emergencies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service
She said her parents are in shock.
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"Heartbroken for my parents to have to witness this happening again in their country," Yousuf said.
She has been speaking to family members still in Afghanistan. They have been pulling all of their resources together, scrambling to get out of the country.
"The immediate term is to get everyone out that need to get out, especially high-risk people like women, girls," she said.
For Yousuf, the fear that the country will lose hard-fought political ground for women and children is ever present. She also fears for the safety of ethnic and religious minority groups and people who have worked with the United States and international non-governmental organizations are also vulnerable.
"It’s hard to say what’s going to happen. The hope is that all the gains that have made will not be reversed," she said.
She said she hopes the world community will agree to open borders to welcome those who have made it to freedom.
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