KHALED'S STATEMENT
I have watched the developments in Afghanistan with great sadness. I am deeply disappointed and gravely concerned for the country. The last twenty years have been challenging, but the painstaking progresses made in women's rights, education, healthcare and others are now threatened. The U.S. and the international community at large must take steps to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Those Afghans who are fleeing violence must have access to both safe territory and asylum processes, and I encourage participating states to increase resettlement space for vulnerable Afghan refugees. In addition, it is essential that the international community exert pressure on the Taliban to respect the essential human rights of Afghans, particularly women and girls, and to refrain from using violence against Afghan citizens.
Here in the foundation, we are in contact with our grantees to learn of their safety and working with them to assess their needs. We will not abandon women and children in Afghanistan and recognize that they need our support now more than ever. -Khaled Hosseini
August 15, 2021
OUR WORK IN AFGHANISTAN CONTINUES
We anticipate that our healthcare grantees will be able to operate at near-normal capacity and will likely see an increase in the need for their services due to the instability and violence in the region. We also anticipate that our work with the UNHCR will continue as an extraordinary number of people become displaced. We remain steadfast supporters of our grantees providing education and other support to women, but realize that many may not be able to continue operations at this time and will be in touch as best as possible to determine how we can best help.
NEW PARTNERSHIPS IN THE U.S.
In addition to continuing our support in Afghanistan, we will also be partnering with nonprofits specializing in refugee resettlement in the U.S., providing aid to help safely and compassionately resettle Afghan families in Northern California. We hope you will join us in welcoming these families who were forced to flee their homeland.
RAISING AWARENESS:
In August 2021, Khaled worked diligently to raise awareness about the crisis in Afghanistan as well as the need for the wider international community to maintain open borders to ensure Afghan refugees can safely resettle. Below is a partial list of the media Khaled did in August 2021:
Print:
Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/khaled-hosseini-kite-runner-afghanistan-taliban/2021/08/19/746e3dc6-008a-11ec-a664-4f6de3e17ff0_story.html
Television:
CNN / Amanpour: https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2021/08/25/amanpour-khaled-hosseini-viet-thanh-nguyen-afghanistan.cnn
MSNBC / The Mehdi Hasan Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e4tXlnI6Rw
MSNBC / All in with Chris Hayes: https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/-the-kite-runner-author-my-heart-is-broken-for-the-afghan-people-119162949891
ABC Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P58nIx3crUM
CBS interview: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/khaled-hosseini-author-of-the-kite-runner-reflects-on-heartbreaking-scenes-out-of-afghanistan/ Sky News: https://news.sky.com/video/afghanistan-kite-runner-author-khaled-hosseini-says-he-fears-for-the-futures-of-women-under-taliban-rule-12383320
UNHCR appeal: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=821261528538514
Radio:
RESOURCES:
For those of you interested in helping,
We deeply appreciate your desire to help women, children, and families who are facing a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Aside from a monetary donation, we understand that you may want to take action, even from afar, to help in this crisis. First and foremost, thank you. Thank you for caring, for not looking away, and for taking the extra step to act to help those who need us most.
We have compiled a few resources from other organizations to make it as easy as possible to take action. Perhaps the easiest way to act is to inform those around you, friends, family, and colleagues of the humanitarian crisis vulnerable Afghans face. Contact your local representatives to express your support for Afghans in need and find out what the plans are in your area to host refugees. The more your local and federal representatives hear from their constituents of the desire and need to help relocate those in peril in Afghanistan, the more they will be willing to act to help.
While we are an organization primarily focused on helping those in Afghanistan, there are many local organizations helping with relocations of refugees, advocating for them with local officials, etc. We always suggest that you do your own due diligence to select an organization that you feel comfortable working with and who you feel aligns with your goals. As a result, we are not endorsing any organizations listed in the links below, but we do hope that you will contact one or review what they are doing and take action on your own. The links below also have ways of contacting your representatives, signing petitions, etc.
Organizations specific to refugee resettlement:
https://www.rescue.org/country/afghanistan https://jfcs-eastbay.org/ https://www.refugepoint.org/ https://cwsglobal.org/
Thank you again for taking the time to reach out to us and for your desire to help. Thank you for being willing to share your time, take action, and reaffirm that in a global community, when one suffers we all suffer, but we can also all make a difference.
Photo Index-
Photo Credits: (from top to bottom)
Photo 1 - REUTERS; Photo 2 - AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana; Photo 3- U.S. Air Force/Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen/Handout via REUTERS; Photo 4 - REUTERS/Stringer; Photo 5 - UNICEF/UN0498790/UNICEF Afghanistan
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