After two years, Afghan refugee family lands in USA
ZAki and family are here!
In August 2021, Stronghold was contacted to help an Afghan family of seven get into Kabul Airport (HKIA). This request followed the announcement that the timeline for US withdrawal from Afghanistan had moved up from September of that year.
The father of this family, Zaki, had been an interpreter for the US and several NGOs present in Afghanistan at the time. Now, he had a broken leg and was on crutches, and needed to get into the airport to get his family to safety.
Zaki tried in vain moving to and around the airport on crutches — and one of his boys was even hit by Taliban.
Zaki and his family trying to get inside Kabul airport, August 2021.
Time was ticking for US citizens and families like Zaki’s. Even as they worked to get out of Afghanistan in time, they had no idea the crisis that was about to ensue in just a few days.
Stronghold’s CEO, Ephraim Mattos, personally handled trying to get Zaki’s family into the airport for days, up until the last minute.
Then, on August 30, President Biden suddenly gave the order to abandon all remaining US citizens and allies, again ahead of the previously announced timeline. The Taliban was lying in wait for exactly this moment.
Zaki, his wife, and their five children were one of those families left to suffer at the hands of the Taliban, who swept in and seized power in Kabul.
Stronghold remained in contact with Zaki as his family lived in fear and poverty. Six months later, Stronghold eventually found a way out for the family, and extracted them.
Zaki and his family lived in another country with the full support of Stronghold for about 18 months, while waiting for the Biden administration to approve the family’s paperwork to enter the USA.
This month, after two years of waiting and struggling and uncertainty, the family has finally resettled in the USA. They are starting life anew in Dallas, TX.
Zaki and his children, safe in Dallas, TX, USA. August 2023
This was a resettlement effort two years in the making. Two years after a horrible week in this family’s lives, they are finally safe. And it was all possible solely because of our generous supporters.
You are helping us save families like Zaki’s, right now.
Thank you.