‘Kite Runner’ Author Urges More Support For Afghan Refugees
Novelist Khaled Hosseini came to the United States as a 15-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who knew only a few words of English. Today he is a doctor, a United Nations goodwill ambassador, and author of two internationally acclaimed books, “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” Hosseini told RFE/RL that when he left Afghanistan in 1976, Kabul was a “growing, thriving, cosmopolitan city.” By the end of his father’s four-year post at the Afghan Embassy in Paris, his country had been invaded by the Soviet Union. Hosseini and his family sought asylum in the United States and ended up in California, where he became a doctor and eventually wrote “The Kite Runner,” which was an overnight literary sensation. RFE/RL correspondent Courtney Brooks caught up with Hosseini at the United Nations on World Refugee Day, where he spoke about the plight millions of Afghans face, both inside and outside the beleaguered country. RFE/RL: Can you describe the impact that 30 years of war h...