'Know your rights' guide released for US Afghan refugees amid growing incitement

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has released special guides in Dari and Pashto for Afghans with information about their legal rights amid growing incitement against them in the United States.

This includes guides to inform Afghan refugees of their rights when communicating with law enforcement, when targeted by hate crimes, when travelling, and when in school and the workplace.

“Afghan refugees entering the United States face the challenge of rebuilding their lives in a new social, legal and cultural environment while also confronting the risk of bigots who may try to take advantage of their vulnerability,” said CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw.

 He added: “We must ensure that Afghan refugees know their rights so that they can stand up for their rights and safely establish new lives.”

Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled their country after the Taliban took control of the capital Kabul. Thousands have fled to countries across the world for fear of violence and reprisals from the newly formed Taliban government.

Hatred on the rise 

Afghans arriving in the US have been the target of hatred, white supremacists threatening violence and right-wing lawmakers accusing them of being terrorists.

Following reports that 500 Afghan refugees will be resettled in Kansas, Ty Masterson, the Kansas Senate president, said: “It could be dangerous to have them in our state”, citing Covid concerns and claiming that some refugees could be “terrorists”.

Right-wing political pundit Tucker Carlson, known for his discriminatory views, took to his Fox News show and suggested that while Afghans are “good people”, they are “very different” from Americans, and claimed most support “Sharia law”.

Elsewhere at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the white supremacist group Proud Boys which has been categorised as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre plastered stickers marked as “Afghan Refugee Hunting Permits” on campus following the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.