Rescue Afghan Interpreter and Family from Taliban
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The Kamrans, a refugee family whose story has been reported on by NBC News, live in constant, critical danger due to Muhammad's ten years of service to the United States and Coalition forces in Afghanistan as a military interpreter. As a result of his service against terrorism, several assassination attempts by the Taliban have forced Muhammad and his family to flee Afghanistan, only to suffer unfathomable abuse as they live in hiding in a neighboring country. Registered as refugees with the UNHCR, this family needs our immediate help to resettle to safety in Canada.
Overview of Case:
Family members: Muhammad Kamran, his wife, and their five children (oldest daughter is now 13)
Background: Muhammad worked for the US and Coalition forces for 10 years in Afghanistan as a military interpreter and a leader in anti-terrorism programs at the UN. He and his family fled Afghanistan after the Taliban targeted him for working with US forces, accused him of converting to Christianity, and repeatedly tried to kill him and his family.
Current location: Pakistan (living in hiding for several years).
Risk: Arrest, torture, and killing by Pakistani security forces or the Taliban for Muhammad, risk of human trafficking for his wife and young daughters.
Need: Private sponsorship to Canada, fundraising required is $38,200 in Canadian dollars or approximately $29,000 in USD under current exchange rates.
Advantages: The Kamran family is UNHCR certified as refugees. Muhammad speaks several languages fluently, including English, and has a masters’ degree in International Relations along with certificates in English and Information Technology. His wife is a talented seamstress and is learning to read, write, and speak English.
Featured in: The Kamran family’s case has been featured in NBC News, USA Today, The Christian Post, McClatchy DC, RedState, The Ithaca Voice [1, 2, and 3], and The Sacramento Bee as well as a Change.Org petition with over 51,000 signatures.
I am a recent PhD graduate from Cornell University and a volunteer with non-profits that work to save US military interpreters. I have been fighting to save the Kamran family for over three years now, after I first learned about their case when Muhammad contacted a non-profit to request assistance with his refugee case. Despite the strong support of a former Navy Lieutenant who had personally worked with Muhammad in Afghanistan, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied Muhammad’s refugee application to the US for “discretionary reasons.”
My family and I traveled to Washington, D.C. several times to advocate for the Kamran family and others like them. Dozens of members of Congress from both parties have taken an interest in the Kamran family’s case, and members of Congress have sent three letters to USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inquiring about the case. However, USCIS has stonewalled Congress and refused to provide an answer to the letters and other inquiries from Congress about the case, despite a DHS secretary testifying in December 2018 that she would cooperate with Congress. We are still working with several House and Senate offices and House committees to demand that Congress have the opportunity to review the case and USCIS explain the reason for the denial. However, given that the Trump Administration has completely stonewalled Congress for two years now, we are working on an alternative option to save this family before it is too late.
As a military interpreter for US and Coalition forces, Muhammad directly saved American soldiers' lives. Now he and his family need our help. Muhammad is a talented and well-liked interpreter and was trusted by his military supervisors who praised his work ethic and dedication to serving the US mission in Afghanistan. His incredible skill of fluently speaking five languages and all 10 dialects of his native language made him indispensable on Special Forces night raids on Taliban insurgents. But the Taliban considers him a criminal and is working hard to find and kill Muhammad, his wife, and his five young children. The whole family has been living in hiding for more than five years. They are living in daily fear of being discovered and killed by the Taliban. You can hear Muhammad's story in his own words in our 4-min YouTube video or an interview on The Michael Calderin Show.
In his current situation, Muhammad is unable to work and he and his family are often beaten by police who come to his house searching for undocumented immigrants, which is also traumatizing to the young children. One of his daughters had to be treated for shock after one incident where she witnessed her parents being beaten by police.
Muhammad has also been arrested and tortured by Pakistani authorities, who planned to kill him but released him after a friend negotiated to pay a bribe on his behalf. He and his family are also unable to get proper medical care and several family members have become very ill with pneumonia and other serious illnesses due in part to the extreme stress of living in constant fear for their lives. Just a few weeks ago, Muhammad nearly died of a combination of malaria, Typhoid Fever, and pneumonia and spent several days in a coma yet was unable to go to the hospital.
Please help us raise money to save the Kamran family by resettling them in Canada. Muhammad is a hero who faithfully served the US and Coalition forces’ mission in Afghanistan for over 10 years and is now in grave danger because the Taliban is determined to get revenge. He has already lost everything except his and his family's lives because of his service to America and our allies, but he is still proud of his choice to join the fight against terrorism. All he wants in return is the chance to bring his family to safety and to give them a future. We are not willing to leave this family behind to be killed by the same terrorists that Muhammad risked his life to fight for so many years. The funds will be kept in trust for the Kamran family to be used for living expenses when they arrive in Canada. The Canadian government requires that the funds are in place before the case will be considered, and the Canadian government will return all the funds if US case were to be approved in the meantime. (Thus, in the unlikely event that the family is able to get visas to the US in the next few months, these funds would then be used for resettlement expenses to the US.)
If you wish to contribute to the Kamran family's ongoing living expenses, which include rent, food, and medicine since Muhammad is unable to work, then please visit our other GoFundMe page (for legal reasons we are keeping funds for the Canada refugee case trust raised by this page and any money contributed to the family's ongoing expenses raised by the other page separate). Please also consider signing our Change.Org petition in support of the family here .
Overview of Case:
Family members: Muhammad Kamran, his wife, and their five children (oldest daughter is now 13)
Background: Muhammad worked for the US and Coalition forces for 10 years in Afghanistan as a military interpreter and a leader in anti-terrorism programs at the UN. He and his family fled Afghanistan after the Taliban targeted him for working with US forces, accused him of converting to Christianity, and repeatedly tried to kill him and his family.
Current location: Pakistan (living in hiding for several years).
Risk: Arrest, torture, and killing by Pakistani security forces or the Taliban for Muhammad, risk of human trafficking for his wife and young daughters.
Need: Private sponsorship to Canada, fundraising required is $38,200 in Canadian dollars or approximately $29,000 in USD under current exchange rates.
Advantages: The Kamran family is UNHCR certified as refugees. Muhammad speaks several languages fluently, including English, and has a masters’ degree in International Relations along with certificates in English and Information Technology. His wife is a talented seamstress and is learning to read, write, and speak English.
Featured in: The Kamran family’s case has been featured in NBC News, USA Today, The Christian Post, McClatchy DC, RedState, The Ithaca Voice [1, 2, and 3], and The Sacramento Bee as well as a Change.Org petition with over 51,000 signatures.
I am a recent PhD graduate from Cornell University and a volunteer with non-profits that work to save US military interpreters. I have been fighting to save the Kamran family for over three years now, after I first learned about their case when Muhammad contacted a non-profit to request assistance with his refugee case. Despite the strong support of a former Navy Lieutenant who had personally worked with Muhammad in Afghanistan, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied Muhammad’s refugee application to the US for “discretionary reasons.”
My family and I traveled to Washington, D.C. several times to advocate for the Kamran family and others like them. Dozens of members of Congress from both parties have taken an interest in the Kamran family’s case, and members of Congress have sent three letters to USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inquiring about the case. However, USCIS has stonewalled Congress and refused to provide an answer to the letters and other inquiries from Congress about the case, despite a DHS secretary testifying in December 2018 that she would cooperate with Congress. We are still working with several House and Senate offices and House committees to demand that Congress have the opportunity to review the case and USCIS explain the reason for the denial. However, given that the Trump Administration has completely stonewalled Congress for two years now, we are working on an alternative option to save this family before it is too late.As a military interpreter for US and Coalition forces, Muhammad directly saved American soldiers' lives. Now he and his family need our help. Muhammad is a talented and well-liked interpreter and was trusted by his military supervisors who praised his work ethic and dedication to serving the US mission in Afghanistan. His incredible skill of fluently speaking five languages and all 10 dialects of his native language made him indispensable on Special Forces night raids on Taliban insurgents. But the Taliban considers him a criminal and is working hard to find and kill Muhammad, his wife, and his five young children. The whole family has been living in hiding for more than five years. They are living in daily fear of being discovered and killed by the Taliban. You can hear Muhammad's story in his own words in our 4-min YouTube video or an interview on The Michael Calderin Show. In his current situation, Muhammad is unable to work and he and his family are often beaten by police who come to his house searching for undocumented immigrants, which is also traumatizing to the young children. One of his daughters had to be treated for shock after one incident where she witnessed her parents being beaten by police.
Muhammad has also been arrested and tortured by Pakistani authorities, who planned to kill him but released him after a friend negotiated to pay a bribe on his behalf. He and his family are also unable to get proper medical care and several family members have become very ill with pneumonia and other serious illnesses due in part to the extreme stress of living in constant fear for their lives. Just a few weeks ago, Muhammad nearly died of a combination of malaria, Typhoid Fever, and pneumonia and spent several days in a coma yet was unable to go to the hospital.Please help us raise money to save the Kamran family by resettling them in Canada. Muhammad is a hero who faithfully served the US and Coalition forces’ mission in Afghanistan for over 10 years and is now in grave danger because the Taliban is determined to get revenge. He has already lost everything except his and his family's lives because of his service to America and our allies, but he is still proud of his choice to join the fight against terrorism. All he wants in return is the chance to bring his family to safety and to give them a future. We are not willing to leave this family behind to be killed by the same terrorists that Muhammad risked his life to fight for so many years. The funds will be kept in trust for the Kamran family to be used for living expenses when they arrive in Canada. The Canadian government requires that the funds are in place before the case will be considered, and the Canadian government will return all the funds if US case were to be approved in the meantime. (Thus, in the unlikely event that the family is able to get visas to the US in the next few months, these funds would then be used for resettlement expenses to the US.) If you wish to contribute to the Kamran family's ongoing living expenses, which include rent, food, and medicine since Muhammad is unable to work, then please visit our other GoFundMe page (for legal reasons we are keeping funds for the Canada refugee case trust raised by this page and any money contributed to the family's ongoing expenses raised by the other page separate). Please also consider signing our Change.Org petition in support of the family here .
Organizer
Kristy Perano
Organizer
Ithaca, NY