Advocates fret Ukraine war will overshadow Afghans trying to flee their country

Advocates fret¹ Ukraine war will overshadow Afghans trying to flee their country

Transcript²

Thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.S. are still desperately³ seeking an exit. Advocates worry that they'll be forgotten as the world focuses on the unfolding humanitarian⁴ crisis in Ukraine.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

New immigrants from Afghanistan are settling into their lives in the United States, while thousands of others wait for a way out of Afghanistan. Advocates worry that as the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine absorbs much of the world's attention, Afghans who supported the U.S. military in Afghanistan may be forgotten. Steve Walsh is with member station KPBS in San Diego. And he's got our story.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

STEVE WALSH, BYLINE⁵: Jawid Karimi watches on his phone a recent news report out of Afghanistan. It shows a group of girls being turned away from a school.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Through interpreter) We are also human beings.

WALSH: He interprets the video for me.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Through interpreter) We have a right to education.

WALSH: Five months ago, Karimi arrived in San Diego with his wife and two boys, part of a growing number of Afghan refugees. The world watches as the Russian invasion of Ukraine produces millions of refugees almost overnight. But Karimi and other Afghan refugees are still focused on the plight⁶ of their country. Many are nervous that the U.S. will move on, leaving thousands of people who work with the Americans stranded⁷. Some remain in hiding.

JAWID KARIMI: They change their house, going from this house to another house, to hide them. This is a big concern if they are forgetting that something bad may happen to them.

WALSH: Shawn VanDiver is part of a coalition⁸ of mainly veterans groups trying to bring Afghans who work with the Americans to safety. AfghanEvac has been working with the Biden administration. But Vandiver says the White House has said very little publicly in months.

SHAWN VANDIVER: We're willing to bend over backwards⁹ to help Europeans that we haven't served with in the scale that we have with Afghans - and that we've kind of taken our time on Afghans, folks with whom we served for 20 years, folks who stood by us on the battlefield.

WALSH: Afghanistan didn't come up during the president's State of the Union address. VanDiver was particularly frustrated¹⁰ after the Biden administration announced that the U.S. would allow 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the country.

VANDIVER: Nobody's saying that we shouldn't be helping¹¹ Ukrainians. We all agree. What we're saying is that it would be nice if folks who didn't look like us got the same help as folks who look like us.

WALSH: Advocates are still waiting for the administration to get behind a permanent status for thousands of Afghans, like Jawid Karimi. He was given a temporary status called humanitarian parole. Naomi Steinberg with the refugee aid group HIAS says it doesn't fix their situation.

NAOMI STEINBERG: It's not a permanent status in any way. It is not an immigration status. It was very important in that it allowed a lot of people to get here very quickly. And obviously, time was of the essence. But what has happened now is that they are here with no path to permanency.

WALSH: Steinberg says the biggest problem isn't the shifting focus from one refugee crisis to another. She says the previous administration gutted¹² the U.S.'s refugee resettlement program.

STEINBERG: It's a lot easier to wreck¹³ a program than it is to rebuild. And so that's where we are now, slowly but surely, building up. And extraordinary progress is being made. But it feels painfully slow for the individuals who are directly impacted.

WALSH: Javid Besharat just received his green card, which will allow him to use his degree in computer programming in San Diego. He was beaten by the Taliban as he made his way to the Kabul airport with his family. This was just days before the last American flight left.

JAVID BESHARAT: One of them had a one-meter pipe in their hand. And they were beating on my back and my foot. We escaped from them. And somehow, we entered to the airport.

WALSH: He left behind two brothers who also worked with an American company. He says the Taliban has searched their homes, looking for proof that they work with the U.S.

BESHARAT: Our solution is that - for the American government is that, please, help the people or for the family of those who are helping the Afghan government that - and also the American troops in Afghanistan.

WALSH: Because for many Afghans, time is running out.

For NPR News, I'm Steve Walsh.

1 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

7 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

10 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 gutted   

adj.容易消化的v.毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的过去式和过去分词 )；取出…的内脏

参考例句：

• Disappointed? I was gutted! 失望？我是伤心透了！
• The invaders gutted the historic building. 侵略者们将那幢历史上有名的建筑洗劫一空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。