Photo: Next City and Triad City Beat
When Mir Habibullah Akhagar and his family arrived in Washington, DC, they were one of hundreds of thousands of Afghans fleeing the Taliban regime in 2021. He had family living in Texas and North Carolina but the US Office of Refugee and Resettlement wanted to relocate him to North Dakota. He moved in with his sister in Greensboro, found work in clinical testing which came with health insurance, and enrolled his kids in one of Guilford County’s two newcomers schools. Akhgar began a WhatsApp group with other Afghan refugees and they have helped each other file for Medicaid, find jobs and housing, and translate documents. They are learning from older refugee communities such as the Montagnard, who fled Saigon after 1975. Shahpeerai Aimaq, an Afghan refugee, works for the Montagnard Association as a case manager and employment specialist for new Afghan arrivals and has helped 52 people find resources and employment in Greensboro.
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