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Afghan evacuees among many groups continuing their lives in western New England

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An Afghanistan evacuee deplanes in Italy on August 22, 2021, assisted by U.S. military.
SGT. WILLIAM CHOCKEY / U.S. MARINE CORPS

Evacuees from Afghanistan arriving in New England to begin difficult adjustments are the latest of many groups to seek refuge here. All have faced both unique and similar challenges.

“It's a new system for them. They don't know the laws, the regulations and about the life system. Everything is changed... is totally different,” Mustafa Alnaimi told And Another Thing. Alnaimi is a caseworker for the Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center of Boston, Lynn and Worcester.

Alnaimi understands the plight of Afghan evacuees that he is helping right now in Worcester because of his experience fleeing from Iraq 11 years ago.

Massachusetts is welcoming people from other areas that face crisis right now, too. More than 100 families from earthquake rocked Haiti have arrived in Massachusetts in recent weeks, according to the Boston Globe. More than 2,000 displaced people relocated to Holyoke after Hurricane Maria struck that island in 2017, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

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