MADISON, Wis.–After a long and dangerous struggle, Bashir Khan, who formerly led Afghanistan’s credit union movement before being forced into hiding by the Taliban and then fleeing the country, has arrived with his family in the United States, thanks to assistance from the Wisconsin Credit Union League and others in this country.
Kahn earlier shared his extraordinary and harrowing story with CUToday.info readers here, including the early successes of credit unions in Afghanistan where the country’s trade association was a member of the World Council of Credit Unions—the subsequent decline of those same CUs as the Taliban came to power, and his own story of being held by the Taliban until he paid a ransom to escape with his family to Pakistan.
That put in motion an effort led by former WOCCU President and CEO Brian Branch to bring Khan and his family, which includes his wife and five children, to the United States for a new start. Khan said he is hopeful of finding work at a credit union.
The family is now in Madison, Wis., where Branch lives in the city that for a long time has been considered the home of credit unions in the United States. But making the 7,000-mile trip was not easy for the family, and involved numerous starts and stops.
Bashir Kahn and his family at their new home in Madison, Wis.
A Two-Year Odyssey
According to Branch, that has included two years of visa requests, character witnesses, obtaining contract and human resources records, interviews and vetting. On August 27, 2021, Khan and his family received their immigrant visas to travel to the U.S.
One month later, “On Sept. 26 (2023), at one in the morning, the family went to the airport buoyed by the hope of a new home and friends to receive them,” wrote Branch in a post he shared with those who have been providing assistance and following the story. “At the airport, they told the family that the adults and three oldest children could leave, but the youngest two could not get on the plane. They must have an exit visa to leave the country. The children were devastated.”
Branch reported the family returned to Islamabad, Pakistan, where Kahn acquired the necessary exit visas for the two children.
Rushing to the Airport
“Once again the family rushed to the airport as we re-ticketed the flights for the 28th, finalizing payment as the family was in their taxi on the way to the airport,” Branch said. “The family successfully checked in to their flights, after missing two nights of sleep. Hours later they arrived in Chicago where they officially became legal residents. Alas, the queues through immigration and security were enormous and the family missed their flight to Madison, rescheduled for the next day. Another night in an airport made no sense. They boarded a bus to Madison and gamely set out again.”
Shortly before midnight, Branch reported he and others from within the U.S. credit union community, including people with whom he had worked at WOCCU, met Khan and the family at a bus station on the outskirts of Madison. There were flowers for Khan’s wife, Bibi, as well as for each of Khan’s daughters; a baseball hat for the oldest son, Mohammad, and a toy for the youngest son, Adeel.
Bashir Khan after arriving after midnight in Madison by bus.
Khan’s children are 20, 16, 14, 11, and six, respectively.
Wisconsin League Leads Fundraising
“We drove them to their temporary lodging and showed them their rooms, where they finally rested far from the fear and pain of the last two years,” Branch shared.
The approximately $20,000 needed to cover the airfares for the family was provided by the Wisconsin league.
“We're really pleased to have an opportunity to potentially help this family,” league President Brett Thompson earlier told CUToday.info. “Bashir has an interest in establishing his home here in Wisconsin and so it seemed to be appropriate for us to step forward.”
An Effort to Raise Funds
Branch said the former employees and friends of WOCCU had launched an effort to raise funds to provide the family with temporary lodging and food when they arrived, and local food pantries have offered their services to the family.
The Khan children get their first look at school in the U.S.
The World Council has also committed to assist in providing more permanent housing for the family, Branch said.
According to Branch, Khan has been reviewing the websites of U.S. credit unions as well as the differences in products of a western financial market vs. an Islamic finance market. While leading Afghanistan’s credit union trade association, the Islamic Investment & Finance Cooperatives Group, Khan helped to develop a finance model that was compliant with sharia law.
As Khan stated in his earlier interview with CUToday.info, and as Branch reiterated, “One of the primary ambitions for the family to come to America was to provide an education for the children. Before arriving in Madison, Bashir was online registering the children to enroll in school. School staff have provided guidance on the registration process, how to sign up for music classes and lunches.”
‘No Respect for Women’
Enrolling his children in school was especially important to Kahn, who had earlier told CUToday.info that his three daughters were not allowed to attend school in Afghanistan and that when it comes to women’s rights in the country, “There is nothing. They don’t respect women. They don’t allow them to work. They don’t allow them to go to school. I really want my daughters to get educated, my sons as well.”
Branch said one person organized retired teachers to buy the school supplies required of students by each school, including notebooks, folders, pens, highlighters, erasers, markers, headphones, scissors, a ruler, calculator, water bottles and 42 pencils.
Backpacks were also purchased in the children’s favorite colors, and they are to begin school on Oct. 2.
An ‘Extraordinary Impact’
To those who have provided assistance, Branch added, “Thank you for the contributions you all have made. While they may seem dear or small to us, they have made an extraordinary impact on this family forever.”
Below, school supplies purchased by credit union supporters for the children of Bashir Khan.
