Safiullah Rauf (born 1994) is an

Afghan-American Afghan Americans ( prs, آمریکایی‌های افغان‌تبار ''Amrikāyi-hāye Afghān tabar'', ps, د امريکا افغانان ''Da Amrīka Afghanan'') are Americans of Afghan descent or Americans who originated from Afghanistan. ...

humanitarian and Navy reservist. Rauf was born in an

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and immigrated to the United States as a teenager. Rauf became a hospital corpsman and linguist in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. Rauf founded the Human First Coalition, which works to evacuate refugees from Afghanistan. In December 2021, while providing humanitarian aid in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, Rauf was detained by the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

and held for 105 days; he was subsequently released in early April 2022, following negotiations between the Taliban and the Biden administration.

Personal life

Safi Rauf was born in 1994 in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan. In his teenage years, Rauf immigrated to

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

in the United States where he attended and later graduated from Millard South High School. In 2017, Rauf enlisted in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

and has served as a hospital corpsman. Rauf also served as a linguist and cultural advisor with Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan. In 2019, Rauf attended Georgetown University with a pre-med track. Following this, he was admitted to

University of Nebraska Medical Center The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) is a public academic health science center in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1869 and chartered as a private medical college in 1881, UNMC became part of the University of Nebraska System in 1902. R ...

before deferring his acceptance to co-found the Human First Coalition.

Human First Coalition

In 2021, Rauf co-founded the Human First Coalition alongside his brothers Zabih Rauf and Anees Khalil. His board and executive team includig Zabih Rauf, Becca Brown, Joy Shanaberger, and Alex Plitsas . Human First is an ad hoc organization designed to help aid those fleeing from Afghanistan following the United States' withdrawal from the country. The Human First Coalition is estimated to have rescued over 6,000 people from Afghanistan, including 1,000 Americans and their families, according to Rauf. In 2022, Rauf advocated for the Afghan Adjustment Act, a bill that aims to help Afghan Afghan evacuees become legal permanent U.S. residents.

Taliban captivity

In November 2021, following approval from the Taliban and United States government, Safi Rauf and his brother Anees Khalil began humanitarian work in

, helping evacuate Afghans from the country. On December 18, senior officials from Taliban's

General Directorate of Intelligence prs, ریاست عمومی استخبارات , native_name_a = , native_name_r = , type = , seal = , seal_size = 125px , seal_caption = Logo of the General Directorate of Intelligence , seal_alt ...

approached the brothers while they were drinking alcohol illegally in Kabul and requested they provide an interview, claiming that all foreigners were required to provide such. An altercation followed due to public drunkenness' and Safi, Anees, and three British intelligence officers were taken captive on suspicion of

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

and were placed "in rooms that were 8 feet by 8 feet, with no phones, blankets, mattresses or sunlight." The brothers stated that during their captivity, both were

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d by their captors; both brothers attempted a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

in a bid to be released. In mid-March, both captees' families were permitted 15 minutes by the Taliban to speak with Safi and Anees. The American State Department and Biden administration conducted a months-long negotiation effort to secure the release of both brothers. On March 31, the brothers were informed they were going to be released and told their captivity was "a misunderstanding". In total, both were held captive for 105 days and were released into U.S. custody on April 1, 2022. The brothers were flown to a U.S. military base in Qatar before returning to the United States.

Accusations

According to an ABC News report that surfaced after his imprisonment, Safi Rauf and his organization the Human First Coalition and Human First LLC, have been accused of mistreating refugees they evacuated from Afghanistan. He and his organization have also separately been sued for fraud, according to the report from Olivia Rubin.

External links

Ted Talk

(ABC News, Olivia Rubin, April 11th 2023)

References