Khaled Hosseini on Refugees in Afghanistan and Beyond

The Takeaway

Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, joining the 43 million refugees who are currently displaced around the world.  Khaled Hosseini, bestselling author of “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” feels a particular kinship with these refugees. In 1980, when he was a teenager, he and his family were granted asylum in the U.S. when Afghanistan faced a different decade-long war with the Soviets. Hosseini is currently a goodwill envoy with the UN Refugee Agency. He is also the founder of the Khaled Hosseini Foundation, which provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.