Afghan Refugees

This video I found is from Al-Jazeera and is a look into the tragic conditions of Afghanis who have been internally displaced from their villages and have set up refugee camps in the capital Kabul. This clip includes shocking statistics such as: “for every 1,000 Afghan children born, 165 die within a year - and a quarter of all Afghan children die before their fifth birthday.” The reporter admits that despite international aid, these people live in destitute situations, but more upsetting this is not a unique camp. These people are just an example of the larger influx of refugees; they are invisible to the government and overshadowed by the construction and desire to rebuild the city. Afghanistan’s recovering economy cannot help these displaced people and international aid is not enough.


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The second video is a different perspective on Afghan refugees who have returned home through the eyes of Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner. The clip provides a bit more background on these returning Afghans, who led relatively safe lives as refugees in other countries and are returning to much worse conditions. It offers a more hopeful message of the work of the international community and citing its importance in a country that is not ready to receive returning refuges.