Sixth Year, Entry Six - Safi's Story

The Photography They Found

Day 1,833

Safi kept everything from his years of service.

He has his employment records, identification documents, certificates, and the photographs with the people he worked beside. Other allies burned their papers to survive, but he carried his through everything.

"They are the reminders of the people I worked with and the commitment I made during my service," he said.

The work those records describe ran through the busiest American base in Afghanistan. From January 2009 to December 2012, Safi was a security, safety, and health manager for an American contractor at Bagram Airfield, and later a shift manager at the military hospital there.

His days started early, with safety briefings for a workforce of hundreds He supervised shifts,  prepared daily reports for the Sergeant Major, and served as an interpreter, bridging the language gap between Afghan workers and American staff. 

He was once told to 'take care of your people, support your team, and always do the right thing,' and Safi has not forgotten. His proudest days were the ones when his work kept his colleagues safe. After that contract ended, he served again, from 2015 to 2016, with international organizations and U.S.-funded development projects.

On November 11, 2023, more than two years after the fall,  and seven years after his service, the Taliban detained him after information about his previous work reached them. 

They went through his social media accounts and found a photograph he had shared years before, the way anyone shares a photograph. 

They used it as evidence against him. 

They accused him of being a spy, and for roughly 120 days, they held him, questioned him about his past work and his connections, and beat him.

After his release, he left Afghanistan because there was no version of staying that ended safely.

He crossed into Pakistan, where his family now lives in temporary accommodation, and where inquiries about him did not entirely stop.

He had applied for a Special Immigrant Visa on August 23, 2021, his case progressed, and he completed his visa interview. Then a presidential proclamation in 2025 suspended visas for  Afghan cases, and his file has sat inside that suspension since, complete on his side and unanswered on the other.

His days now are devoted to his family, the search for work he is not permitted to do, and waiting for news about the program that holds his future. Occasionally he takes his children to a park so they can be children for an afternoon. They have been out of school too long. 

"As a parent," he said, "it is very painful to see my children missing important opportunities for their future while we continue waiting."

For years, Safi's job was keeping the people around him safe, and he kept every record of it. The Taliban searched everything he ever posted, and the worst they could find was a photograph, but that photograph was enough. 

"Behind every application is a family, a personal story, and someone who supported U.S. missions and is still waiting for a safe solution,” he said. “Many of us supported U.S. missions and trusted the promises made to us."

“I am a husband, a father, and a professional who has always tried to serve others with honesty, responsibility, and integrity." 

His records say the same thing. He is asking the United States to read them.

Support allies like Safi as they wait for the promise to be fulfilled: https://give.nooneleft.org/campaign/831559/donate