OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Around 100 Afghan refugees are likely heading to the Fox Valley for good.
Several area organizations are preparing to help them. One of them is World Relief Fox Valley.
“These people are leaving their homeland, the country that they love, and sometimes at a moment’s notice,” said World Relief Fox Valley’s Tami McLaughlin. “We heard that after the bombing at the Kabul Airport that people were leaving with only the shirts on their backs.”
She says they’ll likely help refugees get set up with landlords and navigate bureaucracy to get things like drivers licenses.
Khurram Ahmad is the PR director for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. They’ve helped middle eastern refugees before.
“When we put ourselves in their shoes, the challenges can be very daunting, and it’s very challenging from a refugee standpoint,” Ahmad said Thursday.
Ahmad says many refugees, unfamiliar with the United States, will find things like grocery shopping at a grocery store to be an unfamiliar experience.
“The families that just move in…we bring them basic spices, basic meat,” Ahmad said. “And then we go to the next level: how do you fish for yourself?”
There’s no timeline on when Afghan refugees may arrive locally.
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