Man In United States On Visa Fearful About What Could Happen To His Family In Afghanistan
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- As we learn more about how many Afghan refugee families will be relocated to Pittsburgh, KDKA talked to a man who is on a visa in the United States but still has family back home.
Nasrat Murad has been in the United States for three years. Murad, his wife and kids are safe, but he is searching every day for a way to get the rest of his family out of Afghanistan.
"I was hopeless and I was really disappointed," he said. "To be honest, when I heard the news, I couldn't work on that day and I left the job."
When Murad came to America from Afghanistan on a visa in 2018, he thought he was also leaving his family in good hands. He did not think that U.S. troops would leave and the Taliban would take over.
"I was getting hundreds and hundreds of messages from my family, even my parents," Murad said. "They were not believing and they were saying, 'You are not helping us, we are here, we are hearing all the sounds and the attacks.'"
Murad said he reached out to any contacts he has to try and get his family to safety.
"I couldn't do anything," Murad said. "When I talked to them, they couldn't believe I couldn't do anything and I got very disappointed, and I still don't know if I'll be able to visit my family."
Murad said many of his friends in the U.S. are fighting the same battles. He said he talks to his mother and father whenever he can, but he's fearful for what could happen to them.
"I'm very concerned about my family. I don't know what to do and all the borders are closed now that they have control of the international airport in Kabul. So I don't know what to do and ways to think of so I can evacuate my family," Murad said.
He said they once felt protected, and now so much uncertainty is in the air.
"When I was in Afghanistan, I was at least knowing we have the troops and we have the soldiers and we have all the other countries supporting us. But now we don't know, we don't know what's going to happen."