Afghan refugees expected to settle in Arizona within next few weeks

Thousands of refugees are fleeing Afghanistan amid deadly chaos and there are plans to accept some of them in Arizona soon. Refugees settling in Arizona is nothing new, organizations say.

PHOENIX - Thousands of refugees are fleeing Afghanistan amid deadly chaos and there are plans to accept some of them in Arizona soon.

Organizations say that they believe that in the next couple of weeks, there will be refugees who will come to Arizona, but before they come here, they are vetted and then resettled.

Over the years, Arizona has resettled nearly 3,000 Afghan refugees, according to Connie Phillips with Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest.

As turmoil continues overseas, Phillips says they're expecting and preparing to help more refugees.

"We are anticipating the capacity of accepting about 200 here in the Phoenix area and another hundred in Tucson. So at this time we're getting ready and we'll hope to be prepared when they start to arrive," she said.

Said Sherbaz was one of the refugees who came to the United States more than 15 years ago. "People are scared right now to go to the airport," he said.

He's now working with the International Rescue Committee to help others who are seeking refuge in Arizona.

"When you're coming to our organization, for the first two to three months, you are helping them with the housing, of course, they're getting food stamps and my job is to make them self-sufficient. My job is very important," Sherbaz said.

As Sherbaz works to help others like him resettle into a safer environment, he too is burdened by the chaos in Afghanistan as his family is desperately trying to leave but for the past couple of days, there's been no contact.

"If my mom and my brother is going to stay there, I do not know what's gonna happen with them. Of course, my hands are tied right now. I can't do anything, I'm not there …" he said.

Organizations are expecting refugees to be in Arizona in the next few weeks.