Original Articles Printed in CU Today: The man who led the World Council of Credit Unions’ project in Afghanistan and who later went into hiding before being captured and interrogated by the Taliban, is now in Pakistan with his family and hoping to restart his life with credit unions in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Credit Union League has agreed to cover the costs related to travel for Bashir Mohammad Khan and his family to come to the United States. Bashir’s family includes son Adeel (age 6), who Bashir wants to see grow up to know freedom; daughters Sara (11) Somaya (15) and Samira (13) , who want to have access to an education, and Mohammad (20) who hopes to go to college one day. Since 2021, Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s office has supported the visa application process for Bashir and his family to come to the US. Bashir and his family finally received their immigrant visas two weeks ago.
Khan served as the CEO of the credit union trade association in Afghanistan, the Islamic Investment & Finance Cooperatives Group, which during the time the United States had a major presence in the country was a direct member of the World Council of Credit Unions. Through its Rural Finance and Cooperative Development (RUFCOD) program, WOCCU worked on several finance and cooperative development programs from 2004-12 with local communities in the country as it sought to establish a national system of credit unions, known as Islamic Investment and Finance Cooperatives (IIFCs).
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Originally printed in CU Today: Wisconsin's CUs Step Up to Provide Help and How to Help CU Leader from Afghanistan Begin New Life in U.S.