More than 250 children have been born to Afghan evacuees in US bases since the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Fort McCoy military base, Wisconsin, US – Ahmadzai* had imagined the birth of his first child as a typical Afghan family affair with relatives visiting his home in Kabul to deliver embroidered baby clothes and other gifts and recite the Quran to celebrate.
But Ahmadzai’s first child was delivered at a hospital in Wisconsin and then brought back to Fort McCoy military base, where his family and thousands of other Afghan refugees are awaiting immigration processing after being evacuated from Afghanistan amid the Taliban takeover.
Ahmadzai, 25, like other parents of newborns at Fort McCoy, said welcoming a new baby at the camp is bittersweet.
“It would have been great if we had the baby in Kabul and were all together with my family,” he told Al Jazeera. “Our happiness would have been doubled.”
He expressed gratitude for the safety and opportunity that his new setting offers; he also lamented missing out on the rituals and shared joy of the extended family that come with the birth of a new child in Afghanistan.
Ahmadzai’s new son, Yasir, is one of more than 250 babies born to Afghan evacuees on military bases in the US since American troops withdrew from Afghanistan at the end of August, according to the US army.
“Families of newborns receive necessities such as formula, diapers, wipes and clothes from a variety of both governmental and nongovernmental organizations,” a spokesperson for the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) of the military told Al Jazeera in an email.
At Fort McCoy, families ask the US army for anything else they might need. The Red Cross is also active on the base to provide humanitarian support.
Missing family
Ahmadzai, who had worked on an American military base in Afghanistan, said he had no choice but to flee his country when the Taliban took control of the capital Kabul in mid-August as US and NATO troops withdrew.
Now he and his family live in one of the two-storey barracks housing thousands of Afghans at Fort McCoy. Each family hangs Red Cross-provided curtains and blankets to create private space inside of the buildings.
About 30 people live on each floor. Families are allocated a space for beds and a small area to socialize and eat.
“We are happy that our boy was born safe and sound, but we are also disappointed that we are in a foreign country right now,” Ahmadzai said.
In Kabul, relatives bring gifts for the newborn – clothes, swings, strollers, blankets, cradles and toys.
The family also gathers for recitation of the Quran in full known as “Khatm ul Quran” on the sixth night of the child’s life.
In the US, Ahmadzai’s family mostly received verbal congratulations from fellow evacuees in their building.
“Everyone’s situation is the same here – what we wear and eat here, everyone does the same, so no complaints,” he said.
