Sikh community reaching out to Afghan refugees through hot meals – Albany Times Union

ALBANY One immigrant community has reached out to welcome another through a universal language:

Members of Guru Nanak Darbar Sikh Temple in Niskayuna prepared and served lunch to Afghan refugees at an Albany-area hotel on Monday.

People came down and briefly mingled in the impromptu soup kitchen before loading up their trays and heading back to their rooms.

Paul Uppal, president of Guru Nanak Darbar, said refugees who were relocated to Albany following the collapse of the Afghan government last year face the same issues as anyone else who has been quickly forced to flee their native soil: Loneliness, social isolation and a lack of clothing, personal care products and financial independence.

Its the typical problem of trying to assimilate in a land far away from home, Uppal said.

On Monday's menu was vegetarian Indian and Pakistani cuisine.

The lunchtime banquet was a collaboration with the Troy YMCA, Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, the Albany Hindu Temple and Tri-City India Association.

Volunteers at the Sikh Temple prepared their food out of love and respect for their refugees, Uppal said, and they will continue to provide assistance.

Organizers also made colorful garb available to youngsters, who happily darted throughout the hallways.

Fifty-one Afghan refugees are being temporarily housed at the location before they can be placed in other lodging, officials said.

Guru Nanak Darbar parishioners and officials also make periodic drops of uncooked food to other families in the Capital Region, said Gurinder Garcha, a volunteer who helped organize Mondays event.

The Albany field office of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) has resettled over 300 Afghan evacuees since September.

Yet their escape from the war-torn country, in many ways, was only the beginning of the path to security. Evacuees have only been issued temporary status that expires two years from their date of arrival.

USCRI officials said the lack of a direct path from temporary status to permanent residence leaves them vulnerable at the end of that two-year period.

Finances also remain a challenge beyond immediate resettlement needs.

As an antidote, advocates and politicians are lobbying for the Afghan Adjustment Act, a bill being floated around Congress that would create a pathway to permanent status for Afghan evacuees.

Fatima Mukhtar, board member of the Al-Zahra Islamic Center in Voorheesville, said the new arrivals are integrating into U.S. life with the help of the center.

The recently-resettled people, she said, benefit from gleaning experience from people who arrived at different times, and thus are at different stages of the assimilation process. Weekly programming is also available at the location.

Mukhtar emigrated to the U.S. three decades ago. A subsequent wave of refugees came in the early- to-mid 2000s.

They have various different levels of experience that they can build off of and that strengthens the community a lot, Mukhtar said.

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Sikh community reaching out to Afghan refugees through hot meals - Albany Times Union