NOTE: The stories are tragic but all too familiar: A boat carrying refugees desperate to find a better life sets off for Europe or America. The voyages mainly occur under cover of darkness and they are extremely hazardous. Often they fail to reach their goal.
In the past few days, almost lost in the flow of the news, yet another such incident occurred. A boat crammed with men, women and children from Asia hit a rock off the coast of Italy and overturned. More than 100 people lost their lives, at least 80 of them from Afghanistan.
My Afghan friend says this sad news will in no way reduce the attempts of his countrymen to escape, because they are desperate. Here is his report.
Dear David:
For the people of Afghanistan, we just want to flee, to get away from the land that has brought nothing but suffering, sadness, violence and hunger to its citizens. That is why migration and escape is the substance of almost every conversation with any group of Afghans. They ask each other about new ways of reaching other countries, discuss changes in the immigration situation, and share any immigration opportunities they have heard of, even if they are rumors.
For example, during the week, I have many conversations with my family members, my work colleague Timur, and my friend Narges. My mother's biggest wish is that I can leave Afghanistan and she repeats this wish in her conversations with me constantly. One of Timur's daily questions is whether I have received any new information about the opportunity to immigrate somewhere. Narges is always looking for scholarships in countries other than Afghanistan and wants me to help her write her applications.
Personally, whenever I feel depressed, I think maybe escaping to anywhere but here would help.
Just an hour ago, my brother called and asked about the email I sent to the Brazilian embassy in Tehran six months ago. A year ago, Brazil announced that it would give 60,000 humanitarian visas to Afghans. I told him the same as always – that I have received no response.
Whenever one of my friends or family members reaches the point of final desperation and decides to take one of the extremely dangerous illegal paths of escape, I try to dissuade them. But at that point they prefer death to living in Afghanistan, so they are not afraid of fleeing into the valleys, drowning in the sea, falling into the hands of kidnappers, and freezing in the mountains.
They simply decide that to take a leap in the dark is better than to live like this.
NOTE: This is the latest in an ongoing series of conversations with my Afghan friend about life under the Taliban.
LINKS:
Italy migrant boat shipwreck: More than 100 people feared dead (BBC)
UN Describes Worsening Afghanistan Rights Crisis (Human Right Watch)
Many Undocumented Immigrants Are Departing After Decades in the U.S. (NYT)
Food and fuel are out of reach for many Pakistanis because of the economic crisis (NPR)
6 things to know about OpenAI’s Mira Murati, the most interesting person in tech right now (Fast Company)
This government aide says it knows what voters want. It’s an AI bot. (WP)
Microsoft gives Bing's AI chatbot personality options (Engadget)
OpenAI debuts Whisper API for speech-to-text transcription and translation (TechCrunch)
Everything you wanted to know about AI – but were afraid to ask (Guardian)
Elon Musk Sounds the Alarm About the Dangers of AI And ChatGPT (The Street)
Legal fight over student debt a prelude to political battle (AP)
Justice Department pushes back on Trump’s sweeping claims of presidential immunity for January 6 speech (CNN)
Trump can be sued by police over Jan. 6 riot, Justice Dept. says (WP)
More Americans disapprove of McCarthy sharing Jan. 6 footage with Carlson than approve: poll (The Hill)
A bipartisan group of senators has been discussing ways to reform Social Security to avert a future funding shortfall. Lawmakers have floated the idea of raising the retirement age, a move that would be highly controversial, and creating an investment fund to improve Social Security's long-term finances. [HuffPost]
UN urged to intervene over destruction of US abortion rights (Guardian)
Fox News election fraud revelations could take down the network’s embattled chief (CNN)
Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch’s testimony about the network's 2020 election coverage might’ve undermined one of the company's best defenses against the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit, a former federal prosecutor said. Murdoch testified under oath that Fox News hosts "endorsed" the false stolen election narrative, but the network's defense is likely to be that anchors and reporters were simply reporting newsworthy comments by Trump and his advisers. [HuffPost]
Even before the layoffs, tech workers were quitting. Here’s why. (WP)
Ukraine outgunned 10 to 1 in massive artillery battle with Russia (El Pais)
Biden Challenged by Softening Public Support for Arming Ukraine (NYT)
Antony Blinken and Sergei Lavrov meet for first time since Ukraine war (BBC)
In an Epic Battle of Tanks, Russia Was Routed, Repeating Earlier Mistakes (NYT)
Scientists reveal hidden corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza (Reuters)
The first observations of octopus brain waves revealed how alien their minds truly are (Salon)
90% of ice around Antarctica has disappeared in less than a decade (CNN)
I.R.S.: The Internal Revenue Service has extended the 2022 federal tax return and payment deadline to Oct. 16 for most people in California. (SF Chronicle)
Alex Murdaugh convicted of fatally shooting his wife and son (Fox)
Police found knife, gun when searching family home of suspect in Idaho killings (WP)
Chobani Recalls Thousands Of Yogurts That Gave People Yogurt (The Onion)
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