Muslim Advocacy Group Claims Afghan Refugees In Baltimore Lacking Healthcare, Resources To Settle
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Muslim advocacy group is calling for a federal probe after it allegedly found Afghan refugees are experiencing "egregious mistreatment" at temporary housing in Baltimore.
The Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said around 40 refugee families at an extended-stay facility in the city are in need of healthcare, documents, schooling for children, help with job placement, and other resources to settle into their new homes.
The council claims it has learned of "a lack of caseworker check-ins with an elderly Afghan woman living alone who speaks no English, families being prematurely evicted even though their rooms have reportedly been paid for through February 9, and a pregnant Afghan woman expecting to deliver any day who has not been provided with basic support and prenatal care."
The refugees have been at the facility since October 2020, after mass evacuations from Kabul in August, according to CAIR.
The group is holding a press conference Wednesday to call for state and federal officials, including the Office of Refugee Resettlement, to investigate the reported living conditions.