Minnesota man stuck in Afghanistan still struggling to get home
By Reg Chapman
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Friends of a Minnesota man stuck in Afghanistan keep running into roadblocks to bring him home.
Qais, a U.S. citizen went to visit family in Afghanistan, and got stuck after Kabul fell to the Taliban.
His supporters are now being told to find an alternative way to get him home.
“I feel like it’s disappointing that we are letting him down,” said Sarah Lippert.
Lippert is trying to stay positive after learning it may be more difficult to get her friend and coworker Qais out of Afghanistan.
“I was the one responsible for telling him that they – the state department – might not be coming for you, we’re going to have to look at other options,” Lippert said.
Lippert was contacted by Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s office, which suggested Qais connect with Project Dynamo to help get him home. A flight sponsored by them landed in Chicago Thursday with 116 U.S. citizens and green card holders.
“I went ahead and contacted Qais and said that I think we might have to go to this civilian rescue type operation in place of relying on the state department,” Lippert said.
While he waits, Qais is in hiding.
Last week he said hard it is to be in Afghanistan while the Taliban knows he supported U.S. troops.
“They will keep beating and keep insulting people who had like a passport or a green card,” Qais said.
“We have been working around the clock on this case,” Omar’s office said in a statement. “We continue to explore every avenue possible to safely and expeditiously evacuate Qais.”
“I’m frustrated that we have spent this much time corresponding trying to get this going with the state department and it hasn’t gone anywhere and that 30 days in, just now I’m starting to contact some of these other organizations that might be able to give us some help,” Lippert said.
Omar’s office said the government didn’t stop working to get Qais out, but wanted to provide all options.
Sarah hopes someone can cut through red tape and get him home before it’s too late.
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