Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan nearly two years ago, roughly 80,000 people have resettled in the country. According to the Connecticut Department of Social Services, "over 1,300 parolees, refugees, and Special Immigrant Visa Holders from Afghanistan have resettled in Connecticut since 2021."
The New Haven-based non-profit, Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, or IRIS, recently opened a satellite office in Hartford to help meet the needs of the roughly 250 clients they serve in the area, many of whom recently left Afghanistan.
This hour, we hear from two people making the Hartford area a new home. Asadullah Jalal fled Afghanistan with his family of eight, now nine, and are resettling in West Hartford. Plus, we hear from Bridgeport-based refugee resettlement organization CIRI, and IRIS' soon-to-depart executive director Chris George joins us in-studio.
For many refugees and immigrants, food is a love language that carries memory and tradition, while connecting people and building community. Chefs with Afghan roots at Sanctuary Kitchen, a New Haven-based non-profit, describe the power of food.
GUESTS:
- Asadullah Jalal: West Hartford Resident
- Hamid Hemat: Fellow Curator, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
- Chris George: Executive Director, Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS)
- Susan Schnitzer, President and CEO of Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI)
- Caroline Sennett: Director, CIRI's Immigration Legal Services Program
- Naseema Gilson: Program Director, Sanctuary Kitchen
- Homa Assadi: Chef, Sanctuary Kitchen
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