Skip Navigation

Central Pa. organizations preparing for Afghan refugee arrivals

  • Gabriela Martínez/WITF
Hundreds of people gather outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed a day after deadly chaos gripped the main airport as desperate crowds tried to flee the country.

 AP Photo

Hundreds of people gather outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed a day after deadly chaos gripped the main airport as desperate crowds tried to flee the country.

In the past two weeks, the United States has been evacuating thousands of Afghan allies who worked for the U.S. military to the United States.

After the Taliban took over the Afghan government this month, more refugees are expected here.

In central Pennsylvania, some organizations are mobilizing to help.

Church World Service in Lancaster has deployed four staff members to Fort Lee in Virginia to welcome Afghan refugees, assist with Special Immigration Visa processing and help identify whether any refugees have family links in the United States.

Rachel Helwig, a spokesperson for Church World Service, says the organization is ready to help Afghan refugees who might be relocating to Lancaster. The organization has not been assigned any Afghan refugee cases yet, but it is working with community partners to secure access to housing and employment.

The biggest hurdle, Helwig said, might be finding affordable housing in Lancaster.

“We have reached out to some volunteers or folks that regularly work with us to identify some potential housing opportunities in advance in case we are able to work with SIVs who are resettling here, always looking for landlords or community members who might have some housing opportunities,” Helwig said. “We’ve also had a lot of really great outreach from local employers reaching out to our office to indicate their interest in hiring new neighbors.”

Church World Service has been building its capacity to resettle more refugees since the Biden administration announced it was raising the refugee cap to 62,500 earlier this year.

Sgt. Isaiah Campbell / U.S. Marine Corps via AP

A Marine assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit processes an evacuee at Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021.

Other central Pennsylvania organizations are also mobilizing to help refugees.

International Service Center provides resettlement services in Harrisburg. Truong Phuong, executive director, founded the center in 1976 in response to Vietnamese refugees arriving in central Pennsylvania. Fort Indiantown Gap, a military base in Annville, served as a Vietnamese refugee camp after the fall of Saigon.

“Right now, we are preparing ourselves, because what we see happening in Kabul, in Afghanistan, is a repeat of what happened in 1975 to Vietnam,” Phuong said.

Catholic Charities of Harrisburg anticipates SIV cases will be assigned to them, but they are not expecting any refugee arrivals as of today, a spokesperson from the Diocese of Harrisburg said. Catholic Charities helps refugees connect to housing, jobs and English classes.

Faried Sabet, formerly employed as a security supervisor at a U.S. military base in Mazar-i-Sharif, arrived on a Special Immigration Visa to the United States with his wife and two sons in 2016. He received help through Catholic Charities and is now living in Carlisle with his family.

Sabet’s mother and brothers are in Mazar-i-Sharif. He has been trying to send $150 through Western Union, but his payment will not go through since Western Union suspended money transfers to Afghanistan.

“I was sending money last night. She called me and she said we have nothing to eat,” Sabet said. “Because there is no work, no job, nothing.”

There are 910 Afghan refugees who resettled in Pennsylvania between 2009 and 2019, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Resources.

The Emergency Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, enacted on July 30, 2021 by Congress, authorized 8,000 additional Special Immigration Visas or Afghan applicants.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services does not provide placement services, but partners with local refugee settlement organizations. It also does not make the decision about how many refugees will be resettled in the state. That decision is made by the federal government, the agency said in a statement.

“DHS works with the federal government and local refugee resettlement agencies to connect refugees resettled by the federal government in Pennsylvania with benefit programs and supportive services. DHS’ role helps provide stability and provide access to high quality employment, medical and mental health screening, support services, and case management for up to 60 months post-arrival,” the statement said.


Gabriela Martínez is part of the “Report for America” program — a national service effort that places journalists in newsrooms across the country to report on under-covered topics and communities.

Support for WITF is provided by:

Become a WITF sponsor today »

Support for WITF is provided by:

Become a WITF sponsor today »

Up Next
Regional & State News

York County is hiring behavioral health ‘co-responders’ to work with police