Councillor Maytom, who is also the Leeton Multicultural Support Group chairman, said he had been speaking with Afghan nationals who live and work in the MIA, saying they held real concerns for their relatives and friends still in the country.

"All of these people are here legally and they are just terrified at what is happening in Afghanistan over the past week with the Taliban taking control of the country," Cr Maytom said.

"As a multicultural group this is the biggest crisis we have had before us.

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"We need to try and reach out to people who have been traumatized by this, but we also want to call on the government to be doing more in this area.

"We need to show some compassion and humanity as a community across the country."

Leeton shire is one of 168 local government areas across the country that is designated as a "refugee welcome zone".

Cr Maytom said the town was home to a strong cohort of Hazara-Afghani refugees who moved here 10 years ago and, even though some had headed off to different locations in Australia, the friendship bond remains.

He said many of these men live and work in Leeton shire and are desperate to be reunited with their families, who have already been going through the correct and legal channels to join them here, but that has now been placed in jeopardy given the current crisis in Afghanistan.

In a letter to Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, Alex Hawke, Cr Maytom appealed to the federal government to "show immediate compassion to these people and speed up the process to allow their families to settle in Australia".

He asked the government to:

"We must show compassion as a community and as a nation," Cr Maytom said.

"This is a terrible, terrible crisis and one we can't even really imagine here in Australia.

"We can't turn a blind eye. We need to do something to help."

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