Afghan Refugees — Engagement Journalism

By Angrej Singh

Introduction

My community of focus is Afghan refugees who came to the U.S. after Aug. 15, 2021.

Since mid-Aug. of 2021, nearly 76,000 Afghan refugees came to the U.S. after living across eight U.S. military bases for a few months — with the help of resettlement agencies — they have resettled to 48 states in which they are starting to rebuild their lives.

During the uncertainty of their legal status, multiple Afghan led organizations have been calling on Congress to pass an Afghan Adjustment Act. This legislation would create a pathway for permanent status to the thousands that were granted entry via humanitarian parole.

Newly arrived Afghans do not want to go back to Afghanistan because of the ongoing humanitarian crises afflicting the country. Instead, they hope to see the next generation thrive in the U.S.

August 2021 was around the same time the U.S. withdrew its troops out of Afghanistan after two decades, and the Taliban took control of the country. This led to an ongoing humanitarian crisis as Afghan citizens are facing mass-starvation while the healthcare system is under duress and the economy is continuing to collapse. Though, it’s important to know that Afghans have been in the U.S. since the early 1980s.

The three key questions that are guiding my practicum are: 1) How can job listings come to them rather than them searching for one in American society? 2) How can I equip them with information that they need to apply for permanent residency status and inform them of the process succinctly? 3) How can they connect with one another and with Afghan Americans? One of the biggest concerns I’ve learned from speaking with community members, via phone calls, emails and WhatsApp, so far is the uncertainty of their legal status, since many have already started to rebuild their lives. I want to find a universal way or two that addresses these community concerns for as many members as possible.

Background Data

Where Afghan refugees are in New York:

Last semester I filed a FOIA request to New York’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to find data on the Afghan evacuees who have come to the U.S. in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer. In a matter of days, I obtained data on the geographic area of the community.

Here is the data on individual Afghan evacuees resettled through agencies based in various cities throughout New York:

Albany — 362

Amityville — 47

Binghamton — 6

Buffalo — 497

Kingston — 3

New York — 317

Niagara Falls — 44

Owego — 6

Poughkeepsie — 7

Queens Village — 4

Rhinebeck — 6

Rifton — 12

Rochester — 305

Syracuse — 522

Utica — 154

Vestal — 5

Here is an excel sheet that has the number of Afghan evacuees by state.

Community Callout Effort

Last I attempted a community callout, but it did not go as planned because of a translation barrier and did not “appeal” to the majority. The form had 29 total clicks, with email, sms, and direct being the top referrers. However, one good thing that came out of it was being connected with different Afghan American advocacy organizations in states like California, New York and Virginia.

Practicum Work

Dunya Kabob House in Brooklyn, NY.

His parents have been in the restaurant business for about 25 years. They came to New York in the 1980s after they fled the Soviet Invasion in Afghanistan to survive. “There was no internet back then, so they would just wake up to explosions and tanks rolling in the streets in the middle of Kabul, and one day he said ‘you know what, we can’t do this anymore.”’

In April 2022, Mohamed Ghiasi, 24, and his family opened Dunya Kabob House in Brooklyn, NY. “Our restaurant brings not only people from the Afghan community, but everyone who wants to enjoy great food,” he said. His favorite Afghan dish is Bolani, stuffed flat-bread that comes fried with a variety of filled ingredients such as potatoes, leeks, or scallions.

To give back to communities in Brooklyn, Ghiasi donates food from the several restaurants his family owns to homeless people and those less fortunate. He helps his Afghan community by giving zakat to mosques and sending it to Afghanistan on a yearly basis. “My family left their beautiful country for one reason which was war, and I hope that I can one day bring some form of unity and hope in Afghanistan,” he said.

Something that he enjoys in the restaurant is meeting new people. “The daily interactions, talking with us, seeing how their days are, how we connect with them, how they trust us to fill their stomach is the best part about being here,” said Ghiasi, who wants to open more restaurants in New York, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia.

For the Afghan American community, Ghiasi wishes that in five or so years they are able to integrate more openly within society. “How can you ever grow if you limit yourself in a bubble,” said Ghiasi, who wants others to see that Afghan Americans are not a monolith.

For the Afghan community in Afghanistan, Ghiasi is opposed to the Taliban’s management of sociopolitical affairs. “Far-right groups and thought processes such as forcing women to wear burkas cannot function as a society in the modern world,” said Ghiasi, who hopes to bridge information gaps in Afghanistan. “How can we flourish as a country if we’re always involved in proxy wars?”

Afghan Grill, New Hyde Park, NY

Wais Sher, 55, had a restaurant in Manhattan on 54 street, between eight and broadway when he lost the lease and the development of a new building started.

He then came to New Hyde Park, NY and opened Afghan Grill in 2005.

Sher enjoys the Afghan dish of lamb shanks. “Shank is the first leg of the sheep, and reminds me of back home in Afghanistan where we grew up eating this tasty food,” he said.

He views Afghan food as a way to bring people together. “The food is just an excuse to get together,” said Sher, who treasures the role respect plays in his family, especially toward the elderly.

“Everyone from all over comes to this restaurant, and I love to mingle with customers,” said Sher, who also does some of the cooking of food and will never miss out on an opportunity to cook lamb shanks.

Sher’s one wish is that there can be more peace in the world and wants people to know that money is not everything. “I wish everyone would have a peaceful way of thinking and living, and being respectful and mindful of each other,” he said. “I want peace around the world, and just seeing what’s going on in Afghanistan and Ukraine, I hope the wars end as we too often see bloodshed.”

“I am at the age where I want to have time for myself,” Sher said. “Go around the world and enjoy.”

Halal Express, Bethpage, NY

Meena Haideri, 44, came to the United States in 2001. 18 years later, she opened her restaurant, Halal Express in Bethpage, NY, six months before the pandemic began.

“I opened because of my children and they are growing up fast, so I want them to be working together as a family instead of working under someone else,” Haideri said.

Due to the pandemic, her business is picking pace again. “I struggled during these past two years because of covid, but slowly I’m getting back and seeing customers coming again,” she said. “I hope to continue to grow and expand over the coming years, God willing.”

The foods that she and her customers often cherish are Afghan mantu (beef or lamb stuffed dumplings) and kabuli pulao (lamb with a blend of spices and served with carrots, raisins, and toasted almonds).

Main Bakhtar Halal Kabab, Hicksville, NY

Zeeshan Majid, 38, joined Main Bakhtar Halal Kabab a week after its opening in 2018. He is now the manager of the restaurant in Hicksville, NY. He loves his Afghan culture and food. His favorite is lamb shank. He tries to help out his community by raising money for mosques and the newly arrived Afghan refugees. Majid is most happy when he is serviceable to anyone who walks in through the front door. He desires to open his own restaurant in New York sometime in the future.

Choopan Grill, Hicksville, NY

Choopan Grill opened the doors to welcome people in 2004. Ali Rahimi, 26, now manages the 18-year-old restaurant in Hicksville, NY with his brother as their parents spend more time at home. His family used to have another restaurant in Flushing, NY called Choopan Kabab. To give back to the community, his family donates money and food to local mosques in Long Island. When people have funerals, Rahimi offers discounted prices and sometimes free of cost, depending on the circumstances. For example, a few years back there was an iftar, during Ramadan, where they gave food to about 200 people, free of charge. The Rahimi family used to have a restaurant in Toronto, CA, but ended up closing it during the pandemic. They are optimistic about the future for their community, and live by the quote of treating people the way you want to be treated.

Samovar Restaurant, NY

The Samovar Restaurant opened last year on May 10.

Zarguna Heidar, 53, who is proud to be from Herat, Afghanistan, wanted to do something different and show that there is nuance among Afghan food. “I wanted to have a restaurant that represents the northern region of Afghanistan that has different seasonings for foods,” she said.

Heider has been living in New York City since 2003 and moved to Hicksville, NY in 2017 for a change in life and embracing the suburban environment. “Another reason I opened here is because there is a large South Asian community, and we are all very welcoming,” said Heider, who named the restaurant after an urn, pot or kettle for maintaining the warmth of tea and water.

She is a member of Women for Afghan Women, a nonprofit organization “dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of disenfranchised Afghan women and girls in Afghanistan and New York,” according to their site. Heider helps in any aspect, time and capacity she has. “I teach Afghans to learn English or help translate from Dari to English,” she said.

Heider views success for her Afghan community not just in terms of financial, but also autonomy and agency. “I hope that everyone has the freedom to make their own choices, and I want to do whatever I can do to help others live a better life,” she said.

Community Connection in New York + Community Needs

I’m currently working with Women for Afghan Women, a nonprofit that helps Afghan refugees and evacuees settle into their new lives in the US. This month, when we both find a mutual time, I’ll be meeting with their director, who has been pretty hands-on since the fall of Afghanistan that happened a year ago to talk more in-depth about what the challenges are. In my interview with Sabena Chaudhry, she mentioned: “For an African refugee trying to resettle here, housing is definitely an issue, and securing a job. You know, learning the language. So you know, getting your kids to school, like all these things, it’s, you know, like they’re starting from scratch.”

On September 6, an Afghan refugee messaged me on WhatsApp telling me about her brother’s situation in his restaurant business venture and how people misled him on a proposition. She mentioned that it affected her emotionally to see him in distress and had asked me if I knew places where he can find a job. Apart from suggesting a few sites that he can browse, I asked her what he’s interested in doing and what set of skills he has or wants to use. She mentioned that he worked as a translator for journalists in Afghanistan and had a food business there as well.

She mentioned one thing that surprised me: that many Afghan refugees don’t know they need to apply for permanent residency status and don’t know how to. But her family has after they were misled by a pro bono lawyer. This presented a problem in the Afghan refugee community, and I’m exploring ways in which I can create something informative yet simple that would be useful to them. What that may look like, I’m not entirely sure yet. Though, I have some ideas after speaking with you both today such as a WhatsApp community group or a chatbot service that answers their pertinent and salient questions.

The most worrying was being unsure of their legal status and the challenges of securing permanent legal status before their temporary status expires.

Stories I’ve written related to my community of focus

After Fleeing Kabul, Afghan Refugees Face New Challenges in the U.S.

This story is of an Afghan refugee family who told me their story of fleeing Kabul, Afghanistan and described their experiences and conditions in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.

What’s next for Afghan evacuees? The Afghan Adjustment Act.

Opinion piece on why the Afghan Adjustment Act should be passed when it’s been done for several other communities in the past.

Queer Afghan American Reimagines Intersectionality

A profile on a queer Afghan woman who now lives in New Jersey. We talk about her journey, from finding her identity to navigating life and career in New York.

Q&A: Afghan Tech CEO Sara Wahedi of Ehtesab

In this Q&A, Sara Wahedi talks about her vision for the Afghan community in Afghanistan, and goals and inspiration behind Ehtesab, an app that sends near real-time security, traffic, electricity and other city alerts to users.

Afghan Diaspora Collaboration Project: Food & Community

A project with Afghan restaurants on how food brings alive the culture and community amid celebrations and hardships.

Action Plan On Meeting Community Needs

Facebook Page:

• A Facebook page, a multi way channel, will be focused on aggregating job listings relevant to the interests of the Afghan refugee and Afghan diaspora community, in addition to connecting members. It will also be a space for sharing resources related to the application process for securing a permanent residency status, or connecting them with someone who may be better informed to help them. The space will have community guidelines of what is and isn’t acceptable or allowed. Every biweekly there will be short survey forms, or just questions, sent as to what the community members want the space to be, what they want to know more about, facilitating conversations, shaping news coverage and what they’d like to share with me and others in the group. The possibilities of what this space can be will be shaped by their responses to my questions or their pertinent and salient needs.

Chatbot:

• An automated Chatbot on Facebook messenger that can answer major questions related to permanent residency status, give up-to — date news, have translation services and provide related links to resources.

Facebook Community Guidelines / Best Practices

• Introduce yourself and what borough you reside in
• Must keep all conversations civil and respectful — no profanity
• Treat all members as humans and keep in mind we all come from a wide range of experiences
• Discussion is encouraged, but debates, slander and other non-conducive messages are not tolerated
• Share only what you feel comfortable enough to share as it’s a group with other members as well, so bear in mind privacy considerations
• Do not message anything offensive, abusive, illegal, and/or any inappropriate messages, content, unauthorized advertising, promotional material/services or spam
• Do not share links unless it will be beneficial to majority of members

Strategy for community members to join the Facebook group

• Ask several Facebook groups’ moderators if I can post a link to the space and invite them to join
• Partner w/ organizations such as Women for Afghan Women and Muslim Community Center of NY and send them the link to the chat so they can forward it within their networks
• Ask a few Afghan American tailored subreddits’ moderators if I can create a post that invites NYC-based members to join

Measuring Community Impact

Quantitative Data:

• The # of people who follow or like the Facebook page
• How many times per week they submit questions that they need answers to or need resources but can’t find any
• The # of biweekly form submissions or requests to address a community need
• The # of messages sent per week
• The # of clicks each link receives

Qualitative Data:

• Their feedback on whether this WhatsApp group is helping them — and if so how or why not
• Whether they feel like the belong and are seen or heard
• Whether they find community connections and are able to connect with other members in this space

Product as a Service

• Oftentimes news organizations offer specialized products and services to their audience at a cost of a subscription package. I didn’t really want Afghan refugees to pay for any of it so I wanted to create a Facebook chatbot on the platform where they already are. Many refugees and immigrants across cultures use Facebook to get in touch and share information.
• I thought of the chatbot as a journalism service in which it delivers content to the intended audience. The content that is delivered by this chatbot is based on what the user wants from it. For example, if someone wants to go to an Afghan restaurant and find one nearby, it will provide them with a link to a map I created on Proxi of Afghan restaurants in New York City and Long Island. Another example is if they want news about the Afghan community in the U.S., three to five curated news articles will show from free news media sites.
• I understand that A.I. and tech can be a challenge and sometimes harmful, I do have faith in the pros of emerging tech and what positive it can deliver. Not everyone has bad intentions and I always try to focus on the good of what something can offer.
• I see chatbots as effective ways for news organizations to provide support and help to all those seeking frequently asked questions, or it can become a secondary search engine for Facebook pages that provides users with curated content that they’ve created on their websites. The possibilities of how this feature can be used are fascinating.
• The chatbot responses can also be made to provide quick and personalized responses to readers’ questions. They’re always available day and night, at all times, which means those seeking answers can get the responses they need and whenever they need it as they provide immediate responses. The type of content the chatbot delivers can also be tweaked to provide personalized interactions based on a user’s past interactions and preferences and requires greater involvement of natural language processing. Not to mention but they are cost effective and it’s one way news media sites can tackle some issues of scalability of information and user requests.

Engagement Journalism Reflections

Relationships take time to develop

• From my first outreach efforts in September of last year to some of my conversations last month, it took a quite some time for relationships to form because many organizations were understaffed and busy helping Afghan refugees resettle, but also some had initial reservations about a journalist who they thought would probably parachute in and write a story about their trauma and leave. This latter part was the one where I had to do more explaining over a series of conversations about how this form of journalism, engagement journalism is more ethical, accurate and representative of communities that are being served.

Persistence is self-discipline in action

• I have emailed and called many different Afghan organizations across the U.S. and in New York but some just didn’t have the bandwidth while others were overwhelmed at the moment with other obligations. While that can seem demoralizing, I did not give up and tried another route. I started to travel to several Afghan-led restaurants across the New York City and Long Island area to get acquainted with the owners and some of the family members who were present and were helping out. At one of the last restaurants I visited, the Samovar restaurant, one of the owners was also working at Women for Afghan Women as a part-time volunteer to help with language translation services. If it wasn’t for her and my third time reaching out to the organization, after being somewhat of a familiar face in the community, I probably wouldn’t have gotten this far. Engagement journalists just need to continue showing up, getting involved and having conversations.

Priority on public needs leads to service

• If engagement journalism didn’t emphasize the importance of serving a community and identifying their key needs and information gaps, then something like what we all have created as a final product and service wouldn’t have come to fruition. I truly see engagement journalism as a community service and rectifying relationships harmed by legacy media. When we start working with communities who are underserved, have been harmed or marginalized, we start to put a focus on accessible engagement across offline and online efforts — so that whatever we end up writing or creating serves the needs of those populations.

What’s Next

• To scale my product and service, I want to continue reaching out to more Afghan organizations and ask them if they’d be interested in setting up a chat bot with my existing source code that is built upon external pages’ API’s. if they don’t have one already. The goal is to help tailor the chat bot to address some of the existing needs that can’t be addressed due time commitment from people, not enough staff or resources.