Abstract
Following the collapse of the government of Afghanistan in August 2021, a large number of at-risk individuals were required to follow evacuation procedures to ensure their safety; however, ultimately, they were not evacuated. The current study examined one such group of individuals and their experiences. The study explored a group of at-risk men and the challenges before traveling to their evacuation destination, while waiting for the evacuation flights, and after returning home because they were not evacuated. The study also investigated mechanisms these men used to maneuver these challenges. Open-ended interviews were used to collect data from 11 men, most of whom were university lecturers. A thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The findings showed the participants experienced a wide number of difficulties before traveling to the evacuation destination (e.g., inability to provide their family’s basic needs and little access to food) and while waiting for the flights (e.g., getting separated from their family members and fear of getting captured by the Taliban). They used various strategies (e.g., religion and social support networks) to cope with these challenges. Moreover, the participants lived through a number of hardships after returning home.
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Orfan, S., Perry, J.A., Daqiq, B. et al. “Hey American! What Is Up?” At-Risk Men’s Experiences Before and While Waiting for Evacuation Flights and After Returning Home. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work 8, 412–423 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-023-00268-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-023-00268-x