One Year After Taliban Takeover, Bay Area Afghans Reflect on the Humanitarian Crisis and the Struggle to Resettle

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2022

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s been a year since the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban in full control of the country. Thousands of refugees fled the country in fear of the new regime, many ending up in the Bay Area, one of the largest Afghan communities in the US. In this hour, we’ll hear from local Afghans about how evacuees are dealing with challenges like the housing crisis and uncertainty over immigration status. We’ll also get an update on the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, which is facing widespread hunger and poverty and a Taliban crackdown on women’s rights. Guests: Joseph Azam, board chair, Afghan-American Foundation - non-partisan non-profit focused on advocating on behalf of Afghan American community Matthieu Aikins, author, "The Naked Don't Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees;" contributing writer, the New York Times Magazine Zuhal Bahaduri, executive director and co-founder, The 5ive Pillars Organization Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, boated the number one wellness resort and spa by readers of travel and leisure magazine in 2024.
0:09.7	In August, three or four people sharing a cassita enjoy special vacation packages that include hiking, mindfulness, and fitness classes, in a garden setting on 4,000 verdant acres of nature preserve.
0:22.4	Check in to summer at Rancho LaPorta, Rancho LaPorta.com.
0:26.6	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:34.4	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:40.6	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an
0:46.3	unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and
0:53.2	devotion.
1:02.1	The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th.
1:06.4	Tickets on sale now at Broadway, sF.com.
1:09.0	From KQED.
1:23.8	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:29.4	Last year, as the U.S. pulled back its military forces, the Afghan government experienced a spectacular collapse. It culminated in the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, which touched off two weeks
1:36.8	of airlifts out of the city as thousands of refugees fled the Taliban. Back then, we spoke with
1:42.6	refugee relief agencies and Afghanistan experts about what might happen
1:46.5	both here in the Bay and across the world.
1:49.0	A year on, we're checking back with some of our sources, getting an update on refugee resettlement
1:54.0	here, and trying to understand how the Taliban is actually ruling the country.
1:58.0	That's all coming up next, after this news.
2:14.4	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
2:19.5	A year ago at this time, Afghanistan was front-page news. There was chaos at the airport, inevitable comparisons to Saigon, accusations flowing from and to the Biden administration.
2:26.0	But after a month of evacuations, the situation slipped from the headlines, pushed out by
	...

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