STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) — The violence in the middle east that has caused many to flee their homelands hits home for a Weston woman.
32-year-old Katherine Graebel-Khandakani grew up in Wausau, graduated from Wausau East, and married her husband Zakaria twelve years ago. Zakaria is an American citizen who originally came from Syria. His parents are seeking asylum in the U.S. and living with them. Graebel-Khandakani says some of her family members are refugees that have moved to other European countries. “Most of the family is still in Syria. We do still have some relatives that are in Turkey, and two of my husband’s nephews recently went into Germany.”
Zakaria and Katherine’s two nephews now in Germany escaped by taking a rubber raft across the Aegean Sea to Greece. She says the teenagers risked their lives, and have a much brighter future ahead of them. “They’re young boys. They are in a youth home, and they are going to school. They’re learning German, and they are very happy about the possibility of having a future, because they haven’t been to school in three years. They want to be able to do something and make lives for themselves, and they are having that possibility, that opportunity, where they are now.”
Graebel-Khandakani says there are family members that remain in danger, and may not get out of Syria. “I have other relatives in Syria who would like to be able to get out, but that’s not necessarily feasible. It depends on their health and their ability to travel.”
Communications with family members can be challenging, since there are few working telephone systems. She says several family members in Syria have generators, and by making electricity, they can use Skype by connecting to satellite Internet services with their computers.
Many American citizens are concerned about the possible infiltration of ISIS members through the refugee programs. Graebel-Khandakani believes the vetting process for refugees coming to America is very intensive, and she’s convinced bringing more refugees here would be safe. “It’s an extensive and intensive process. The people who are coming here as refugees from out of the United States come here on recommendations through the U.N. They come in through the U.N. camps that are already set up, and they have already gone through the process of interviews, and verifying who they are, and what their backgrounds are before they are even recommended to the United States to become refugees here.”
Graebel-Khandakani says the U.S. has accepted only about 2,200 refugees from the region in the last four years, or about point-zero-four percent of the total refugee population. She says most of the ones trying to come to America are families and not individual young men.
Her message to her fellow Americans is these refugees are people much like your own family, all trying to stay alive. “I am obviously American, and they are my sisters and my brothers, and my nieces and nephews, and when I watch these people who are crossing over, I see my family members, and it’s just basic humanity to think of them as individuals and of their individual plights as they try and make their way to safety.”
Ideally, the civil war in Syria would end, making it safe for Syrians to be at home. Graebel-Khandakani says the problems in Syria won’t go away overnight. “That’s going to take a very long time. That’s not something that could be solved easily. Obviously, there’s going to need to be a lot of work. I don’t think that the opposition will accept Assad (President Bashar al-Assad) staying, and I know that Assad will not accept backing down. More probably could have been done four years ago than can be done now.”
She says one of the things that could have helped keep peace in Syria was Senator John McCain’s idea of implementing a no-fly zone in the region, believing it would have prevented the escalation that has happened and saved many lives.
Katherine Graebel-Khandakani is currently studying biology with a pre-medical concentration. She hopes to start medical school next year and become a medical doctor. You can find out more Tuesday evening as Graebel-Khandakani speaks about her experiences at the UW Stevens Point Dreyfus University Center. The presentation is called “Understanding the Syrian Refugee Crisis: What You Need to Know Now.” It’s a free event that is open to the public, and is sponsored by the Office of Diversity and College Access. The program will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Encore Room. She will give a short presentation and then take audience questions.
(You can hear our entire interview with Katherine Graebel-Khandakani on our website, here.)
