Nearly 300 Afghan refugees will arrive in Missouri from Albania in a few months

In the coming months, the International Institute of St. Louis plans to welcome Afghan refugees from Albania, where they have been for months. Institute officials say they will be more prepared for the latest arrivals.
The International Institute of St. Louis is preparing to resettle about 300 Afghan refugees who will arrive from Albania over the next few months.

For more than a year, the Afghan families have been waiting in Albania, a small country on the Balkan Peninsula, for the U.S. State Department to process their Special Immigrant Visas or refugee resettlement papers, said Arrey Obenson, president of the International Institute.

The families fled Afghanistan in 2021 after Taliban fighters seized control of the country.

The institute has helped resettle about 700 Afghans since last year. In the past few months, six Afghans arrived in St. Louis from Albania.