RALEIGH, N.C. — The Biden administration is preparing to roll out a program to fast-track Ukrainian refugees trying to come to the U.S. The approach would be similar to how Afghans fled Afghanistan for the U.S. last fall.
As our community contemplates a surge of Ukrainian refugees, we talk with a recent Afghan arrival to see how life is going.
What You Need To Know
- The Biden administration is preparing to roll out a program to fast-track Ukrainian refugees fleeing to the U.S.
- Recent Afghan arrival, Jamila Aziz was forced to leave her country but says she’s happy to be in America
- Aziz, a former high school teacher, worries about the future of Afghan girls after the Taliban girls’ education ban
Jamila Aziz came to the United States from Afghanistan seven months ago as a refugee. After the U.S. withdrawal, she was one of the women who was able to leave as the country fell to the Taliban.
Aziz graduated from Kabul University, and then became a math teacher at a high school for boys in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. She is now troubled by the news that the Taliban is restricting girls’ education beyond the sixth grade.
“I love my job,” Aziz said. “I want Afghan girls to have the rights that I did, to get an education and have a career.”
Aziz fears Afghanistan is going backward. “Education for everyone is very important,” Aziz said. “When a country improves, it’s because the people are educated.”
She says she misses her country a lot, but she’s happy to be in America. She is especially thankful that her two daughters, ages 17 and 18, can have a future.
“I feel good because here my daughters can go to school and get an education,” Aziz said.
As for her own future, Aziz is taking free English classes in the community and has dreams of becoming a teacher in the U.S.
Aziz says her message for Afghan girls is to be patient. She also wants the U.S. to push the Taliban to open high school for girls.