Refugees from Afghanistan are making their way to their new homes in America, including many of the roughly 7,200 who have come to Camp Atterbury after fleeing their home country.
Gov. Eric Holcomb and other officials last week provided an update on the crucial work of Operation Allies Welcome, in which Atterbury is one of eight bases around the nation helping Afghan refugees resettle.
That operation is expected to be completed in early 2022, as each week, hundreds more Afghans make their exodus from their temporary way station at Atterbury to resettle into new lives in the states.
Nationwide, about 30,000 of the 82,000 Afghan refugees who’ve arrived in the U.S. have been resettled as of last week. Some are settling nearby — about 250 so far have found new homes in Indianapolis, Bloomington or elsewhere in Indiana.
As officials provided such big-picture details of the operation, some of those who have called the camp their temporary home expressed gratitude. For as messy and chaotic as the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was, by all accounts, Operation Allies Welcome has been a well-planned and well-executed mission of mercy.
“The people of the United States have a heart of gold. Thank you so much for everything,” Nahid Sharifi said after recounting her terrifying flight from her homeland. “In a difficult situation, they never left Afghan people alone.”
Truly, this has been an effort that has shown the heart of the heartland. Refugees have had the care, services and support of a veritable army of service members, veterans and volunteers who demonstrated Hoosier hospitality. Likewise, schools, churches, civic groups and individuals gave what they could to help our new friends feel at home.
“There’s been so much pride and passion here, and it’s a reminder of all of our purpose while we’re here is to help one another, to help our neighbors,” Holcomb said. “As far away as they’ve come from, they are here at home in Indiana and in this country.”
That’s a huge change of circumstance from this summer for these thousands of people who scrambled for their lives in stunned disbelief at the rapid fall of their country to the Taliban. We can never forget that these people we welcome to our nation helped us in our longest war. Their gratitude is humbling, for we surely owe them a debt of gratitude.
Doubtless, the refugees will have hardships ahead. Many of them must learn a new language and adjust to a very different culture. They will have to deal with past traumas and future uncertainties. That’s a heavy burden, but from the spirit we’ve seen, they’ll overcome these hardships and become proud and productive members of their new communities.
We in our region can be proud of what we’ve done to help. Through donations of time, money and gestures of good will, many of us have played a role in making Operation Allies Welcome a success. Let’s keep that going for our Afghan friends, because while the last of the refugees will find their new destinations early next year, the mission won’t truly be accomplished until those we help resettle are able to say they truly feel at home.
