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Afghan visitors at Holloman learn to live in US

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Editor’s note: The last of the refugees left the camp Jan. 26.

In December, Otero County 12th Judicial District Attorney Scot Key was invited to Holloman Air Force Base to visit one of the Afghan refugee facilities, Aman Omid Village, one of five still operating across the country. Many of the Afghanis brought to the United States when approximately 124,000 were airlifted out of Kabul in August were sent to community facilities at military bases.

Also joining the tour of the Afghan Refugee Camp were agency partners, Kids Inc. Child Advocacy Center (CAC), and the Center of Protective Environment, Inc. (COPE).

Key said the tour was informational to let community members know how the camp operates and what it is trying to accomplish. All the presenters referred to the refugees as “our visitors” and treated them as visitors.

“Looking at the camp, it’s a mini-city with the Air Force in partnership with a lot of other agencies,” Key said. “It was built in a short time, knowing it’s a crisis type time.”

Presenters at the tour told the group how Aman Omid Village functions and explained most of the residents or their families participated and provide services to US troops in Afghanistan,” he said.

“It was a PR tour to make sure that we understand that these folks are not a negative type of people,” he said. “They are partners. Most just want a new life and they provided services to our country.”

Physically, Key described the place as a full tent city, including religious areas, schools and family housing. The village has two mayors -- one for day and one for night. To the north of the village, there is a camp of contractors. They provide construction, teaching and other services. There are no fences, he said. If they leave, they probably would not be welcome back and while they are not prevented from leaving there are dangers around, and they are encouraged to do their walking and exercising as close as possible.

“It was very interesting to see how it worked,” Key said. “It was an act of ingenuity to get this accomplished.”

The DA’s office was invited on the tour because, since the Aman Omid Village is in Otero County, and as with any population there are potential crimes.

“The (village) is in a rather desolate area of that huge piece of property,” he said. “The land is exclusively state jurisdiction. If crime occurred, the feds could not prosecute.”

If something happens on the property, it becomes the jurisdiction of the New Mexico State Police or the Otero County Sheriff’s Department. The state police has a little office stationed at the camp to deal with complaints.

Although there are currently a couple of investigations being led by the DA’s office, most problems are settled before they go to court.

One of the classes the visitors undergo is about cultural differences between countries.

“They get out there and some of the contractors have been hired to educate our visitors on cultural things they need to know.” Key said. “Like you probably should not walk in the middle of the street. They are used to walking in the middle of the street.

“They may treat their children or spouses in a different way that could arguably be violation of statutes or municipal laws. They need to know what is expected in our country, especially in regard to their treatment of women. Hopefully they take in that information that they learn what our culture expects.”

The camp seems a bit chaotic, Key said. Children are running around all over the place – they are out there having fun.

“They tend to wander,” he said. “They are very loving and commonly come up to you and want to shake your hand or hug you. It’s not what I would have expected.”

Key said his job is not about the politics of the situation.

“That would be a debate for hours and hours with these folks,” he said. “They fled a country where probably their lives were in danger. My need is to address problems and difficulty in prosecution. Uniquely, the number of things that have been referred to us has been very minimal and that may be counterintuitive to those who argue.”

Actually, Key said, statistically the folks in the county have done far more prosecutable crimes than those visitors who have gone through the camp.

“I’m glad to put a face and a tad bit of humanity into the situation,” he said.

According to a Department of Homeland Security spokesman, the length of time spent on bases in the U.S. varies depending on completion of mandatory vaccinations and any other medical issues that arise; how long it takes to complete necessary administrative steps and provide work authorization; travel availability to their final destination; and the absorptive capacity of resettlement agency partners and local communities, especially in light of the ongoing nationwide housing shortage.


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