SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — On August 15, 2021 the world watched as chaos unfolded at the airport in Kabul Afghanistan.
Thousands of desperate Afghans poured onto the runway, many seen clinging to military planes as they took off. The United States had pulled out of Afghanistan. The Taliban quickly took over.
Muska Gailani runs the Afghanistan Women Council, originally founded by her mother.
She's lived in Afghanistan her whole life and is heartbroken at what she's witnessed over the last year.
"People were a little bit hopeful that maybe this is the “Taliban 2.0” as they were being called and that they are going to be different than the last time, but over time, nothing they said was true," said Gailani.
Gailani said two decades of progress has been wiped out.
"We witnessed back in March, they did not allow our girls to go to school, women were fired from their jobs, no jobs are available, they're not allowed to go out," said Gailani.
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She said people are starving in the street.
"Everybody is out on the street begging and it’s horrible to see that," said Gailani.
Don’t turn your faces away from afghan people
6:20” it was disappointing, it was disgraceful for America itself and for Afghanistan it was disrespectful the way they pulled out”
Shawn VanDiver is the founder and President of #AfghanEvac. He and organizations across the country have been working to help get Afghans out.
"The weight of this date hangs heavy," said VanDiver.
The navy veteran said San Diego is home to roughly three thousand new Afghans, but upwards of 160,000 are still waiting to come to the U.S.
"All sorts of folks made promises that if they stood with us they could become Americans, us pulling out did not wash away that obligation so we have to meet that obligation," said VanDiver.
Supporters of the Afghan Adjustment Act say if passed it would help streamline the immigration process for eligible Afghans. The bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S Senate and U.S. House of Representatives last week.
More information on both organizations can be found online here: http://www.afghanistanwomencouncil.org/ and https://afghanevac.org/
