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Hello everyone,
My wife is a linguist who helped out US Special Operations Forces (her sisters did as well), but their family is trapped in Afghanistan. Her cousin, in particular, is in desperate need. He was an interpreter, helping the US Army in 2010 and 2011, and his family is stuck. Three members have already been found and executed by the Taliban for being related to him. They need to get out or they will be dead soon too, since the whole family and subtribe was known for being very anti-Taliban and pro-US. It's going to be costly and time is short.
I don't like asking for anything, neither does her family, but we're desperate now. We thought, when we started this that this was only for the Kandahar family and we had a way to get the Kabul family out, but we were informed last night that no one will receive no help from our government. We think we can the Kabul family out, but it's going to be dangerous. We have a plan to get the Kandahar family out as well. We're going to have to pay smugglers to get both families to a third country, house and feed them there, and then fly them to the States on our own dime.
I have a gofundme for my wife's family. It will help pay for smugglers, dealing with the border, and setting up safe houses while we figure out how to get them into a more permanent situation with the rest of the family in the US.
That's the link, if you want to check it. Even if you don't want to donate (I get it, times are tough), please at least pass it on.
Thank you for any help you can provide.
UPDATE 29 AUG:
[REDACTED FOR LENGTH]
UPDATE 04 SEP:
Stage 1 of the exfil is complete. It was very scary. They were supposed to take 7 hours to get to their destination, but they went offline for 20 hours, giving us a huge scare.
We're working Stage 2 and setting up for what happens once they're to safety. This will be a long road.
The support has been amazing. I'm working phones, talking to a lot of people, trying to make things work from our side. Afghanistan is a scary place right now, and the worst atrocities are just starting now that the media scrutiny is less intense.
UPDATE 07 SEP:
So far, 15 of the 23 family members are out and into a somewhat safe(ish) third country!! They had to pay their way through the border crossing, but worth it to have some of the highest risk members out!
Hoping, praying, knocking on wood that the last seven are out soon. There's still work to be done to get them to the US, but getting them to safety is huge. And your donations are helping them survive in this third country so they don't have to go back.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
UPDATE 14 SEP:
We have lost contact with our lone family member in Kabul and fear the worst. He was on the kill list and we have not heard from him in eight days, despite reaching out. Since he was alone, we don't have any way of knowing what happened to him.
GoFundMe deleted my fundraiser. I have no words. I am so sorry you guys wasted your time donating. If you don't get your money back, I would raise hell. We're decimated by this. I don't even know what to do right now to source money. We're likely going to start selling things to make the money needed.
**** GoFundMe
UPDATE 15 SEP:
Gofundme reinstated the campaign, but will not allow me to access funds. I followed up with the Patriots media department and will send them more info. They seem willing to possibly help.
The family member is still missing. I'm going through the grim task of watching arrest and execution videos to see if our family member is among the victims. So far, he's not there...so there is hope, however small.
The other seven are trying to get out very soon. If they can make it, we will have 23 of 27 members out. Three dead and one missing.
The Taliban have stepped up their killing campaign and time is running out for everyone else. If it's something that matters to you, don't forget Afghanistan. It's a horror show there.
UPDATE 16 SEP (Middle East time):
Let it never be said that this isn't the absolute best ****IN fanbase in the world! I know a number of you wrote to them, called them, and harassed them, and Gofundme finally agreed to release the funds! I should have it in my account next week! You all are truly the very best!!
Missing family member not found in all the videos I've seen...there's still hope he's alive. Seven remain in Afghanistan. The Taliban kill teams are moving rapidly through Kabul, Mazar e Sharif and Herat from what I'm hearing. Pray for Afghanistan, or send happy thoughts if religion isn't your thing.
UPDATE 17 SEP:
Whatever you guys did, it scared the bejeezus out of them because they put the money in the account TODAY! You guys are amazing!! This crew is utterly impossible to stop! I can't say enough good things about all of you!
This is huge and really helps us keep the folks we have in Pakistan safe and sheltered.
The missing family member is still missing. We're at 11 days. Just hoping and praying at this point.
The seven stuck in Kandahar are in real danger. The Taliban announced an intent to commit genocide against their tribe within 48 hours and they're having trouble leaving. Working around the clock to get them out...somehow.
UPDATE 21 SEP:
Huge news! Seven more made it out of Afghanistan to a third country! The good news is that they are safe from the Taliban. The challenge is that they still have to keep a low profile in this third country as authorities are extorting Afghans for money to be safe from being repatriated. So now the race is to get them out of this country and, hopefully, to the US.
The other challenge are the fees associated with the process, but the money raised will go a LONNNNNG way, so I can't thank you all enough!!!
In grim news, still have not heard from the missing family member. We will always hold out hope he will turn up, but are proceeding now as if he won't be able to accompany everyone else to the States at this time.
That's 23 out of 27 that made it to Stage 2 of the Exfil process. Given that many members of the family were on a kill list and belong to a tribe the Taliban wish to ethnically cleanse, this is a success. And all of you here played a HUGE part in making this happen, and enabling the next steps.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
UPDATE 24 SEP:
I wanted to give a quick update. Our family escaped a dragnet by the local police where they are, looking for Afghans to rough up, extort, or possibly repatriate. It's ratcheted up the urgency we're operating under, but the family is taking intelligent precautions and we think that has been a huge factor in them staying safe.
We are working the Humanitarian Parole process and the quick math says the fees ($575) will add up to 575 x 23 = 13225. So, as you can see, the money raised here will help tremendously! I can't thank you enough. While it is possible for us to file the HP forms with a fee waiver, I was advised that HP applications with no fees are placed at the lowest priority, which is to say they are functionally ignored, and a waste of time. I don't want to take the chance. We want our people out as soon as possible.
Though many of them do not have passports, we are told that an approved HP functions as a travel document, so this could be a massive win.
The bad news...
The 24th is still missing. We found out that one of his relatives in a European country heard from him a day after we did, and that he sounded terrified and was being actively hunted at that moment. Since then, there has been nothing.
The atrocities coming out of Afghanistan are horrific. The Taliban have stepped up their genocide by murdering children, sometimes instead of the parents, likely to ensure the families do not survive beyond this generation. The killing campaign is more prolific than at any point in their history, including the 1990s.
One of the organizations I am working with is running into walls trying to get people out. It's becoming more difficult than ever to get them out, just as the walls close in on our allies and families. Pray for Afghanistan, or send happy thoughts.
UPDATE 10 OCT:
Happy gameday everyone! Hopefully this won't get lost in the sauce, but there's some HUGE news that I wanted to confirm and act on before I posted here.
WE FOUND THE 24th FAMILY MEMBER ALIVE!!!! The Taliban came to his house and he somehow hid from them and was essentially too terrified to move or even use his phone for weeks. I can't blame him. We sent people in to get him out and move him to a third country, which we successfully accomplished yesterday. He's not out of the woods yet. Because he is so highly sought after, we won't feel truly good until he's in a western country.
The less good news is that the Humanitarian Parole option will take months up to a year, so we will be supporting our family for a while. We are working options for a variety of exfil options, some easier, some more difficult, some cheap, some costly. The most important thing is that they are still alive two months into this nightmare.
Every living family member is out of Afghanistan, and that it is a HUGE blessing!!!
There are still thousands stranded behind, and with the dwindling number of volunteers and interest in the western world, it's become overwhelming on the few of us still working this. I can't keep up with the emails and pleas for help and it's sometimes depressing to be honest, especially because the killing campaign keeps going, adding more innocent men, women, and children to the list of those murdered.
I'm hoping that with the heat dying down, that maybe there can be more efficient back channels to achieve what we all hope for; the fulfillment of a promise we made over the years.
UPDATE 23 NOV:
I wanted to wait until it was certain before I posted this update, but we have a singular sponsor willing to sign on for the entire family!!! Securing sponsors has been one of the big headaches of this entire process. My wife and I both work in the government and sponsoring foreign nationals could compromise our careers, so we went looking for a smorgasbord of sponsors to try and get the family in. Like a miracle, a singular sponsor has stepped up! This sponsor is a very private individual, so I will not be posting any details, but we will definitely be toasting to that sponsor over the holiday!!
it's baby steps now, but that's what it will take. A lot of work for seemingly small amounts of progress. This is huge and we are extremely grateful to all of those who have supported us.
On a sour note, the killings continue. Those who have not yet left Afghanistan are finding it much harder to do so, and they are paying with their lives. The Taliban continue to beat women and children who do not follow their laws. I am still part of the effort to document the atrocities. It's overwhelming.
Once I get my wife's family out, I'll be working on more. Sadly, I can no longer consider combining efforts. We've had too many instances where a singular member of a large group is captured and coerced by the Taliban to give up the rest of the group, resulting in dozens of murders. For my family's safety, and for future families' safety, it will have to be onesies for me from here on out. It will drag out the process considerably, but if more people can make it out, all the better.
UPDATE 31 JAN:
I have updates, but they're mostly grim.
We lost eight people. We don't have contact with them. We lost the guy we had found. No word for weeks. The eight were in Pakistan and then disappeared. We like to joke that maybe they're neck deep in hookers in blow in the Netherlands and don't have time to update us, but the reality is likely far more grim.
Our sponsors ghosted us. We're back to square one with that. Admittedly, we took a long time to get paperwork over, complicated by having to move our family to a new address and restarting the paperwork process. We also didn't want to give up on the missing eight...
Over the last 4-6 weeks, we've lost contact with about 900 others. We hope for the best, but it's concerning. My sister-in-law is fairly sure the guy she was trying to get out was killed along with his family in Khost Province.
The good-ish news is that we have family here in the States, who is going to take responsibility for seven we have in a third country. That's big news.
I'm working with a couple other governments on ways to help the nine we still have safe and sound. There are some promising leads. Fortunately, the money that you all helped raise is a huge help in getting them through the winter, which is really cold where they are.
UPDATE 20 FEB:
So there's some movement on a third option with a completely, "sorta" random third country. It pays to make good friends everywhere you go, I guess. It'll involve some craziness, some luck, money of course, and having the next couple weeks pan out the way we want, but there is a third country willing to take them in. Whether we can get them to the States from there is up in the air, but this country is willing to keep them! That'd be huge!! Especially since the US could take years to come to a decision, let alone approve them.
It was just in time too...they were losing hope and said they'd rather take their chances/die in Afghanistan than continue facing hardship and uncertainty in the country they're in now. Sadly, this is a common theme a lot of us are hearing from families we got out to third countries. I've even heard this from Afghan families in camps in the US. They know they face starvation and death squads in Afghanistan, but they'd rather die than keep going. It's a good reminder for us to keep their spirits high throughout all this...these are people in fear and despair and the nightmare hasn't ended for several months.
Thank you for everyone who still checks this thread and keeps up with all this, and especially for the donations. It's housing and feeding these people, who would otherwise have already likely died. You saved their lives. Thank you.
My wife is a linguist who helped out US Special Operations Forces (her sisters did as well), but their family is trapped in Afghanistan. Her cousin, in particular, is in desperate need. He was an interpreter, helping the US Army in 2010 and 2011, and his family is stuck. Three members have already been found and executed by the Taliban for being related to him. They need to get out or they will be dead soon too, since the whole family and subtribe was known for being very anti-Taliban and pro-US. It's going to be costly and time is short.
I don't like asking for anything, neither does her family, but we're desperate now. We thought, when we started this that this was only for the Kandahar family and we had a way to get the Kabul family out, but we were informed last night that no one will receive no help from our government. We think we can the Kabul family out, but it's going to be dangerous. We have a plan to get the Kandahar family out as well. We're going to have to pay smugglers to get both families to a third country, house and feed them there, and then fly them to the States on our own dime.
I have a gofundme for my wife's family. It will help pay for smugglers, dealing with the border, and setting up safe houses while we figure out how to get them into a more permanent situation with the rest of the family in the US.
Please Help Get Our Family Out of Afghanistan
That's the link, if you want to check it. Even if you don't want to donate (I get it, times are tough), please at least pass it on.
Thank you for any help you can provide.
UPDATE 29 AUG:
[REDACTED FOR LENGTH]
UPDATE 04 SEP:
Stage 1 of the exfil is complete. It was very scary. They were supposed to take 7 hours to get to their destination, but they went offline for 20 hours, giving us a huge scare.
We're working Stage 2 and setting up for what happens once they're to safety. This will be a long road.
The support has been amazing. I'm working phones, talking to a lot of people, trying to make things work from our side. Afghanistan is a scary place right now, and the worst atrocities are just starting now that the media scrutiny is less intense.
UPDATE 07 SEP:
So far, 15 of the 23 family members are out and into a somewhat safe(ish) third country!! They had to pay their way through the border crossing, but worth it to have some of the highest risk members out!
Hoping, praying, knocking on wood that the last seven are out soon. There's still work to be done to get them to the US, but getting them to safety is huge. And your donations are helping them survive in this third country so they don't have to go back.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
UPDATE 14 SEP:
We have lost contact with our lone family member in Kabul and fear the worst. He was on the kill list and we have not heard from him in eight days, despite reaching out. Since he was alone, we don't have any way of knowing what happened to him.
GoFundMe deleted my fundraiser. I have no words. I am so sorry you guys wasted your time donating. If you don't get your money back, I would raise hell. We're decimated by this. I don't even know what to do right now to source money. We're likely going to start selling things to make the money needed.
**** GoFundMe
UPDATE 15 SEP:
Gofundme reinstated the campaign, but will not allow me to access funds. I followed up with the Patriots media department and will send them more info. They seem willing to possibly help.
The family member is still missing. I'm going through the grim task of watching arrest and execution videos to see if our family member is among the victims. So far, he's not there...so there is hope, however small.
The other seven are trying to get out very soon. If they can make it, we will have 23 of 27 members out. Three dead and one missing.
The Taliban have stepped up their killing campaign and time is running out for everyone else. If it's something that matters to you, don't forget Afghanistan. It's a horror show there.
UPDATE 16 SEP (Middle East time):
Let it never be said that this isn't the absolute best ****IN fanbase in the world! I know a number of you wrote to them, called them, and harassed them, and Gofundme finally agreed to release the funds! I should have it in my account next week! You all are truly the very best!!
Missing family member not found in all the videos I've seen...there's still hope he's alive. Seven remain in Afghanistan. The Taliban kill teams are moving rapidly through Kabul, Mazar e Sharif and Herat from what I'm hearing. Pray for Afghanistan, or send happy thoughts if religion isn't your thing.
UPDATE 17 SEP:
Whatever you guys did, it scared the bejeezus out of them because they put the money in the account TODAY! You guys are amazing!! This crew is utterly impossible to stop! I can't say enough good things about all of you!
This is huge and really helps us keep the folks we have in Pakistan safe and sheltered.
The missing family member is still missing. We're at 11 days. Just hoping and praying at this point.
The seven stuck in Kandahar are in real danger. The Taliban announced an intent to commit genocide against their tribe within 48 hours and they're having trouble leaving. Working around the clock to get them out...somehow.
UPDATE 21 SEP:
Huge news! Seven more made it out of Afghanistan to a third country! The good news is that they are safe from the Taliban. The challenge is that they still have to keep a low profile in this third country as authorities are extorting Afghans for money to be safe from being repatriated. So now the race is to get them out of this country and, hopefully, to the US.
The other challenge are the fees associated with the process, but the money raised will go a LONNNNNG way, so I can't thank you all enough!!!
In grim news, still have not heard from the missing family member. We will always hold out hope he will turn up, but are proceeding now as if he won't be able to accompany everyone else to the States at this time.
That's 23 out of 27 that made it to Stage 2 of the Exfil process. Given that many members of the family were on a kill list and belong to a tribe the Taliban wish to ethnically cleanse, this is a success. And all of you here played a HUGE part in making this happen, and enabling the next steps.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
UPDATE 24 SEP:
I wanted to give a quick update. Our family escaped a dragnet by the local police where they are, looking for Afghans to rough up, extort, or possibly repatriate. It's ratcheted up the urgency we're operating under, but the family is taking intelligent precautions and we think that has been a huge factor in them staying safe.
We are working the Humanitarian Parole process and the quick math says the fees ($575) will add up to 575 x 23 = 13225. So, as you can see, the money raised here will help tremendously! I can't thank you enough. While it is possible for us to file the HP forms with a fee waiver, I was advised that HP applications with no fees are placed at the lowest priority, which is to say they are functionally ignored, and a waste of time. I don't want to take the chance. We want our people out as soon as possible.
Though many of them do not have passports, we are told that an approved HP functions as a travel document, so this could be a massive win.
The bad news...
The 24th is still missing. We found out that one of his relatives in a European country heard from him a day after we did, and that he sounded terrified and was being actively hunted at that moment. Since then, there has been nothing.
The atrocities coming out of Afghanistan are horrific. The Taliban have stepped up their genocide by murdering children, sometimes instead of the parents, likely to ensure the families do not survive beyond this generation. The killing campaign is more prolific than at any point in their history, including the 1990s.
One of the organizations I am working with is running into walls trying to get people out. It's becoming more difficult than ever to get them out, just as the walls close in on our allies and families. Pray for Afghanistan, or send happy thoughts.
UPDATE 10 OCT:
Happy gameday everyone! Hopefully this won't get lost in the sauce, but there's some HUGE news that I wanted to confirm and act on before I posted here.
WE FOUND THE 24th FAMILY MEMBER ALIVE!!!! The Taliban came to his house and he somehow hid from them and was essentially too terrified to move or even use his phone for weeks. I can't blame him. We sent people in to get him out and move him to a third country, which we successfully accomplished yesterday. He's not out of the woods yet. Because he is so highly sought after, we won't feel truly good until he's in a western country.
The less good news is that the Humanitarian Parole option will take months up to a year, so we will be supporting our family for a while. We are working options for a variety of exfil options, some easier, some more difficult, some cheap, some costly. The most important thing is that they are still alive two months into this nightmare.
Every living family member is out of Afghanistan, and that it is a HUGE blessing!!!
There are still thousands stranded behind, and with the dwindling number of volunteers and interest in the western world, it's become overwhelming on the few of us still working this. I can't keep up with the emails and pleas for help and it's sometimes depressing to be honest, especially because the killing campaign keeps going, adding more innocent men, women, and children to the list of those murdered.
I'm hoping that with the heat dying down, that maybe there can be more efficient back channels to achieve what we all hope for; the fulfillment of a promise we made over the years.
UPDATE 23 NOV:
I wanted to wait until it was certain before I posted this update, but we have a singular sponsor willing to sign on for the entire family!!! Securing sponsors has been one of the big headaches of this entire process. My wife and I both work in the government and sponsoring foreign nationals could compromise our careers, so we went looking for a smorgasbord of sponsors to try and get the family in. Like a miracle, a singular sponsor has stepped up! This sponsor is a very private individual, so I will not be posting any details, but we will definitely be toasting to that sponsor over the holiday!!
it's baby steps now, but that's what it will take. A lot of work for seemingly small amounts of progress. This is huge and we are extremely grateful to all of those who have supported us.
On a sour note, the killings continue. Those who have not yet left Afghanistan are finding it much harder to do so, and they are paying with their lives. The Taliban continue to beat women and children who do not follow their laws. I am still part of the effort to document the atrocities. It's overwhelming.
Once I get my wife's family out, I'll be working on more. Sadly, I can no longer consider combining efforts. We've had too many instances where a singular member of a large group is captured and coerced by the Taliban to give up the rest of the group, resulting in dozens of murders. For my family's safety, and for future families' safety, it will have to be onesies for me from here on out. It will drag out the process considerably, but if more people can make it out, all the better.
UPDATE 31 JAN:
I have updates, but they're mostly grim.
We lost eight people. We don't have contact with them. We lost the guy we had found. No word for weeks. The eight were in Pakistan and then disappeared. We like to joke that maybe they're neck deep in hookers in blow in the Netherlands and don't have time to update us, but the reality is likely far more grim.
Our sponsors ghosted us. We're back to square one with that. Admittedly, we took a long time to get paperwork over, complicated by having to move our family to a new address and restarting the paperwork process. We also didn't want to give up on the missing eight...
Over the last 4-6 weeks, we've lost contact with about 900 others. We hope for the best, but it's concerning. My sister-in-law is fairly sure the guy she was trying to get out was killed along with his family in Khost Province.
The good-ish news is that we have family here in the States, who is going to take responsibility for seven we have in a third country. That's big news.
I'm working with a couple other governments on ways to help the nine we still have safe and sound. There are some promising leads. Fortunately, the money that you all helped raise is a huge help in getting them through the winter, which is really cold where they are.
UPDATE 20 FEB:
So there's some movement on a third option with a completely, "sorta" random third country. It pays to make good friends everywhere you go, I guess. It'll involve some craziness, some luck, money of course, and having the next couple weeks pan out the way we want, but there is a third country willing to take them in. Whether we can get them to the States from there is up in the air, but this country is willing to keep them! That'd be huge!! Especially since the US could take years to come to a decision, let alone approve them.
It was just in time too...they were losing hope and said they'd rather take their chances/die in Afghanistan than continue facing hardship and uncertainty in the country they're in now. Sadly, this is a common theme a lot of us are hearing from families we got out to third countries. I've even heard this from Afghan families in camps in the US. They know they face starvation and death squads in Afghanistan, but they'd rather die than keep going. It's a good reminder for us to keep their spirits high throughout all this...these are people in fear and despair and the nightmare hasn't ended for several months.
Thank you for everyone who still checks this thread and keeps up with all this, and especially for the donations. It's housing and feeding these people, who would otherwise have already likely died. You saved their lives. Thank you.
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