Struggle to Bring Afghan Refugees to Safety
Recently arrived Sikh refugee with asylum doing sewa in Gurdwara Sahib in Mexico City
Help Resettle Afghan Minority Refugees
A Group of Refugees Arriving in the next Month
The last few months have been part of a gruelling and amazing journey for our International Civil and Human Rights Advocacy Team to start resetting Afghan refugees from minority communities to safer lands offering opportunity to build a better future for themselves and their families.
This journey started more than 10 years ago with our teams offering support to Afghan refugees displaced from Swat Valley in Pakistan. This effort went into emergency mode with the July 1st, 2018 bombing in Jalalabad, Afghanistan that killed 19 people mostly Sikhs and Hindus.
With the change in political leadership in Afghanistan in 2021, our teams from Asia to North America have been working nonstop to respond to the unfolding humanitarian crisis permanently displacing ethnic minority Afghan communities.
With over 10,000 work hours dedicated to the Afghan Resettlement Mission in the last few months, we have been able to secure asylum for 141 Afghan minority refugees in Mexico.
“To be forced to permanently leave the only home you have ever known is really painful. Our families are from Afghanistan but we cannot live there peacefully and safely anymore.” – A Sikh Refugee is Afghanistan who is requesting resettlement
The herculean task to find a safe permanent home for Afghan refugees led us to conversations with representatives from over 30 countries across 5 continents.
Our mission is driven by the most pressing need of Afghan minority refugees. To find them a home in a safe country where they can build a new future for themselves and their families.
We are very deeply thankful to the government of Mexico for offering asylum to Afghan refugees for a possible path towards citizenship.
Our volunteers on the ground in partnership with the local Sikh community and Gurudwara in Mexico City are making sure to lay the foundations for a peaceful and prosperous future.
This big task has just begun with the first group of refugees arriving in Mexico last week.
Another group of 10-15 refugees is arriving on or about 15 March 2022.
We need your continued support to complete this humanitarian task.
Travel costs for each refugee are at approximately $2000.00. Most countries do not allow these refugees to even pass through their airports on their way to Mexico. This leaves very few options for us to plan a safe itinerary.
The monthly costs for resettling each refugee in Mexico is $500.00 including lodging, food, language and vocational training.
We are setting up a helpdesk in Mexico with 2 Full-time Resettlement Liaison officers supporting the needs of new refugees.
We are renting and setting up a refugee home for the next and subsequent batches.
We need to raise a minimum of $500,000 to bring and settle all the 141 Afghan refugees to Mexico in the coming weeks.
“I am so thankful to UNITED SIKHS for giving me and my family a chance for a better future. None of this is easy but we are thankful for the global sangat and their support.” – A newly arrived refugee with asylum to Mexico.
Donate at our Afghan Refugee Mission page
We will send more updates in the coming days and weeks as more Afghan refugees take the long awaited journey towards a new future with your generous support.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being part of the UNITED SIKHS team!
Gurvinder Singh
International Humanitarian Aid Director
Recognize the Human Race as One