"I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong" (Richard Feynman)

Friday, December 5, 2008

A Refugee Crisis in Afghanistan - NYTIMES Video

4 comments:

Ivana said...

It is interesting how we have many people who are rich and live very comfortably, but so many more people who live in such poverty. These people were pushed out of their homes, and had to become refugees. It is not right that people should fear the government; that people should have to leave behind their homes and their lives just because others force them to. Now the government is not doing enough to help the refugees who are returning to Pakistan. It's just so horrible that they can not get help.

Anonymous said...

I do not believe that the poor, refugee people that live in Afghanistan is a surprise to anyone. The surprising part is finding out exactly who much of a struggle they really are in. Culture does have a say in what is going on in Afghanistan but the war has an even bigger say. The United States military has forced a person out of their homes, which has caused them to lose and change the lifestyle that lived in. The existence of refugees in Afghanistan has been there for a long time probably even before the war but the U.S has influenced more people to live in refugees and others to lose their assets to live. There is an answer to solve the problem but solving something as unbelievable as what the video is showing, is not easy to fix. I do not think the government is trying to fix it, I think that they cannot fix it. With so many financial problems taking place and with a war going on I just see that becoming a refugee in certain areas of the world are accustom to happening. Things go bad but it is still up the government to try and fix it. I just do not see that happening for everyone in the future. Refugee life will probably be a permanent living condition for many in Afghanistan.

Anonymous said...

Every bit of the hardships endured by Afghan refugees displaced by the US government; (although deemed necessary) are being lived with needlessly. Pakistan may be taking down the refugee towns but it was the US that helped put them there in the first place. The US owes the displaced poorest at least livable conditions in Afghanistan. The winters are harsh there, the significance of this is that there is a definite possibility that some of the 60% of the 300,000 poorest returning refugees will die. The US “elite” and “elites” from other countries that are spending billions of dollars in trying to save their financial systems could do more for the returning refugees but feel that their money is more important than the lives of the refugees. That is what many call injustice: the richest people spending public money to save themselves (who won’t be hurt the most by today’s economic troubles), at the expense of the lives of people more in need not only in their own countries but elsewhere in the world (Afghan refugees etc.) as well.

Anonymous said...

Every time I see videos that show how poor people are in the world, it brings me sadness. I don’t think that it is a surprise to see people living in such horrible conditions, but it is something horrible that shouldn’t be happening. With all the money that there is in this world, we can help save their lives from starvation. It is so horrible that these refugees that once had a comfortable home now have to come back and find absolutely nothing. It was depressing to hear the man say that he lived in a house, but now lives in a tent. I think the government should definitely try to help these people because as they said it is very cold in the winter time and if the refugees continue to live in the tents, they would freeze to death. Overall, I just think that the poverty issue is something horrible that could be resolve by making wise decisions. That is, instead of investing our money on things like war, and actually helping the poorest of the poorest, we would be able to save thousands of lives.