Sacramento welcomes Afghan refugees
After the Taliban captured Kabul and other major cities in Afghanistan, many Afghans resorted to Sacramento as their next destination, thus far providing them with a welcoming environment.
Karl Grubaugh pictured with the Mohammedis, an Afghan refugee family he volunteered to host.
Already home to thousands of Afghan refugees, Sacramento embraces yet another wave of Afghans fleeing the new Taliban regime.
Yousef Nawabi is a youth director at Tarbiya Institute, an Islamic organization with mosques located in Roseville and Natomas. He often serves as the leader of Friday prayers where his role is to preach an Islamic sermon. Despite being born and raised in California, Nawabi was born to Afghan refugee parents.
“My parents … came to America as refugees 40 some odd years ago after the Russian invasion prompted them to flee Afghanistan,” Nawabi said.
Approximately 99.7 percent of the Afghan population is Muslim. As members of the same faith, Nawabi and other members at Tarbiya Institute are actively involved with many Afghan refugees throughout the Sacramento region.
“We … have community members and staff members that volunteer at local food distribution locations in Sacramento and Placer County,” Nawabi said.
Sacramento County holds the greatest population of Afghan refugees in the U.S. with about 9,700 Afghan refugees. In many cases, these refugees receive aid from non-profit organizations in Sacramento, like Refugee Enrichment and Development Association (REDA), which Tarbiya Institute works closely with in order to assist refugees in the process of adjusting to a new life.
“We have teamed up with REDA to help integrate incoming refugees to the Sacramento community,” Nawabi said.
On Sept. 15, 2021, shortly after the Taliban seized control of major cities in Afghanistan back in August, the Biden administration notified state officials of the number of Afghan refugees that will resettle in each state. Out of nearly 37,000 Afghan refugees, California was calculated to receive the most with a projection of over 5,200 Afghan refugees.
“We are expected to see at least 2,500 confirmed refugees enter the Sacramento area over the next few weeks,” Nawabi said. “My feeling is that we will likely see a larger number than that figure over the next year.”
So far, the predicted incline of the Afghan population in Sacramento has been evident to Nawabi.
“Every Friday, we see new members join our community, some of which have been recently displaced from Afghanistan due to the current conflict,” Nawabi said.
According to Pew Research Center, six percent of foreign-born Muslim-Americans originate from Afghanistan.
“We have many Afghan refugees that pray at both of our Tarbiya locations,” Nawabi said. “Some of these families have been in the Sacramento community for decades while others have joined us more recently.”
44% of Muslims said they worked alongside their neighbors to solve a problem within their community.
“It is incumbent upon us to be here to support our local community,” Nawabi said. “It is even more incumbent upon us if those community members share our same faith and values.”
Many Christians share the same desire to contribute to the welcoming of Afghan refugees though they differ in religion.
World Relief Sacramento is a Christian non-profit organization with a prime focus on assisting “newly arrived families in the United States.” For 30 years, they have been partnering with local churches to promote “God’s plan to bring lasting change to our world.” “I think it’s more … a sense of duty and responsibility to fulfill one of the tenets of my faith, which is to welcome the refugee.” — Karl Grubaugh
Retired Granite Bay High School economics and journalism teacher, Karl Grubaugh is a Christian residing in the Sacramento region who worked with World Relief Sacramento to host the Mohammedis, an Afghan refugee family.
“I think it’s more … a sense of duty and responsibility to fulfill one of the tenets of my faith, which is to welcome the refugee,” Grubaugh said.
Barna Group conducted a study by polling a group of 1,556 Christians that showed that a large group of Christians consider volunteering for an organization to be one of the most generous acts.
The Bible calls on Christians to ensure that foreigners living among them “be treated as (their) native-born.” To Grubaugh, his faith’s stance on the refugee contributed most in his desire to take action.
Yet Grubaugh finds the gesture of helping others “inappropriate” when the true reason behind it is to spread one’s own faith. Although Grubaugh and the Mohammedis each experienced an exchange of knowledge on their different religions, Grubaugh never had intent to convert them.
“I think it’s important to note that … there’s some people of faith in the Christian tradition (where) their effort (is) to proselytize and to convert, and I just really have a problem with that,” Grubaugh said.
The National Conference on Citizenship released annual Volunteering and Civic Life in America research which found that one in four American adults volunteered for an organization and three in five provided help to their neighbors. Providing service to others is a prime concern for millions of Americans.
“I … wish that (Afghan refugees) could see that (there are) people of goodwill who want to help,” Grubaugh said. “I think Americans are generous and warm-hearted and are willing to extend a hand to people.”
Mahmood Osmani, a sophomore at Granite Bay High School, is an Afghan refugee who experienced the hospitality of Americans when he first arrived in the United States in 2014.
“My story is (that) my dad worked with an American NGO organization, and he was an important man so he was targeted by the Taliban,” Osmani said. “One day, (while) we (were on) vacation, the Taliban thought that my dad was at his office so they bombed the office, but we weren’t there … And once the CEO of the NGO organization found out about what happened, they applied for us to come to the U.S. so we could have safer lives.” “One day, (while) we (were on) vacation, the Taliban thought that my dad was at his office so they bombed the office, but we weren’t there … And once the CEO of the NGO organization found out about what happened, they applied for us to come to the U.S. so we could have safer lives.” — Mahmood Osmani
With over 75,000 Muslims in the Sacramento Valley, the Osmanis are surrounded by familiarity.
“I feel that (Afghan refugees) are being welcomed very well in the Sacramento area because there’s a lot of Afghans and Muslims,” Osmani said. “My sister hasn’t had any problems with her hijab at school.”
In areas with fewer Muslims, however, refugees of the Islamic faith are less accepted.
“We have family members in Virginia and Missouri,” Osmani said. “There’s a lot of racist people there and they don’t feel welcomed. My cousins in Missouri … are being bullied because they’re wearing hijabs on their heads.”
The noticeable population of Muslims in Sacramento feel a deep religious connection to local Afghan refugees.
“We (Muslims) all have the same religion,” Osmani said. “We pray together … so they’re very welcoming.”
Hawa Nawabi • Sep 16, 2022 at 10:53 am
I definitely think it is nice to see how welcoming people are to host families that have fled from Afghanistan due to the troubles back there.