This article was first published in The Baltimore Sun on February 22, 2022

By Ruben Chandrasekar, IRC in Maryland, Executive Director
Guest commentary for The Baltimore Sun

Afghan refugees now arriving in Baltimore survived a traumatic war in their home country. During last year’s frantic evacuation, they typically brought little with them to the “safe havens” set up by the U.S. government, where they received their initial welcome while undergoing processing and vetting.

Now, these new arrivals are being resettled in local communities by nonprofit organizations such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Baltimore has welcomed our new neighbors with kindness and hope, and they’ve been settled into new homes here. But the work is just getting started, and it will take a community effort.

The resettlement of Afghans is one of the most complex, massive and unprecedented logistical and humanitarian challenges in American history. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the evacuation was the largest since the Vietnam War, airlifting 120,000 individuals in just two weeks...

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